Solicitor

Job overview

We are seeking a Solicitor with significant Healthcare Law experience to play a pivotal role in delivering the diverse and dynamic Legal Services required to support one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts. King’s has a unique profile of local services and focused tertiary specialties together with an international reputation for its work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, fetal medicine, cardiac and blood cell cancer.

This post represents an excellent opportunity for a professional with a passion for high quality (and occasionally high profile) medico-legal work. The post holder will be highly skilled in providing professional management of Trust inquest, advisory and court matters, as well as assisting with supervision of complex claims and involvement in legal matters of particular national and international importance. Ideally, you will have excellent healthcare law firm or in-house NHS legal experience with confidence and competence in inquests, claims and Court of Protection work.

This is an exciting role, which requires ambition, teamwork and motivation. You will need confidence and expertise, as well as being very responsive and able to deal with highly complex and sensitive information. This is also an exciting time to join the team and to shape the delivery of Legal Services in a complex and thriving Trust.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidates will need:

• To provide professional management of the Trust’s claims and inquests.

• To represent the Trust at inquests and advise on healthcare legal matters.

• To manage more complex inquests and Court of Protection matters with panel firm support as required.

• To oversee and train junior staff and supervise and audit files in respect of healthcare matters.

• Promote learning across a number of internal stakeholders, in order to learn from inquests and facilitate a better patient/family experience to avoid unnecessary claims litigation and/or damage to the Trust’s reputation.

• To provide training to staff in relation to legal processes including claims, inquests, mental capacity, consent and the deprivation of liberty.

•To be a qualified solicitor or barrister or have equivalent significant experience working in healthcare law, including conducting inquests, advocacy and assisting/handling Court of Protection and advisory matters.

• To work with professional leads across the Trust to enable the Trust to demonstrate its compliance with national policies and standards, including those set by the Coroner’s Court and CQC.

• To support the Trust in improving quality and value of services, by learning from inquests and claims and liaising with colleagues to ensure relevant information is passed to NHS Resolution if an associated claim arises out of a healthcare matter.

Working for our organisation

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1.7 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and around 15,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in Bromley.

Our values at King’s, are that we’re a kind, respectful team;

Kind. We show compassion and understanding and bring a positive attitude to our work

Respectful. We promote equality, are inclusive and honest, speaking up when needed

Team. We support each other, communicate openly, and are reassuringly professional

The trust-wide strategy Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (EDI) at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we can take Team King’s to another level.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Administration Responsibilities

a. To perform the duties generally expected of an in-house NHS Trust Healthcare Solicitor / Legal Services manager.

b. Manage inquests and claims within the Trust, including advocacy at hearings and liaise with Department Leads if a matter requires additional external expertise.

c. Take responsibility for the day-to-day management of healthcare legal work within the department and work with Department Leads to ensure that claims and inquests are professionally managed.

d. Oversee and supervise junior staff as directed by Department Leads on all healthcare matters.

e. With assistance from Department Leads, to manage court applications and Court of Protection matters with additional external expertise where necessary and approved by Department Leads.

f. Assist with advisory and any other legal work as directed.

g. Identify and bring to the attention of Department Leads any immediate concerns about activity of individual staff, including where action may be needed to retrain or otherwise ensure the continuing safety of patients and others.

h. Arrange and attend meetings (leading where appropriate) and Court hearings involving lawyers and Trust staff to provide information on the matters and to support staff.

i. Assist and support staff at all levels across the organisation who are required to prepare statements and / or give evidence at Court on behalf of the Trust.

j. Arrange and provide training, education and seminars for Trust staff on aspects of healthcare law, including the senior leadership team as appropriate.

k. Prepare and / or assist in the preparation of reports and briefs as directed by the Department Leads.

2. Leadership

a. Promote and implement best practice in the management of claims and inquests. Ensure timely investigation and representation at inquests as required.

b. Assist with the supervision and training of junior staff in respect of healthcare matters.

c. Assist the Department Leads to support, motivate and develop junior staff within the department in healthcare law issues, leading and promoting best ethical and professional practice within a multi-disciplinary network.

d. Assist with the identification of remedial action which may be required to avoid recurrence of adverse events.

3. Operational Performance

a. Make representations to the Coroner when necessary, for example when the Trust is named as an Interested Party or there is criticism of the Trust, ensuring that the Trust’s interests are properly represented, and staff are supported.

b. Present information to staff and external organisations, influencing them on the way that inquests should be taken forward.

c. Deal as necessary with potentially contentious issues to achieve resolution.

d. Work and engage constructively with internal and external stakeholders on a range of sensitive issues.

e. Provide support to staff who may be adversely affected by the process and findings of legal investigations, or by the review of events that in themselves are distressing.

f. Build and develop key relationships, consult and maintain networks internally and externally.

g. Liaise proactively with Trust staff, including clinical staff, Patient Safety, Risk, Complaints and Communications, in order that there be effective interaction amongst departments to ensure early identification of any issues.

h. Work as an ambassador for the Trust with other organisations and the public in promoting and building its reputation or minimising reputation damage.

i. Build positive relationships with external advisers and partners.

j. Have highly developed interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate effectively in a hostile or emotive atmosphere and take appropriate action.

4. Research and Development

a. Horizon scan for developments in healthcare law and best practice externally and report with recommendations to the Department Leads.

5. Policy and Process

a. Proven ability to analyse and interpret complex information and make recommendations for action.

b. The ability to analyse and challenge multiple strands of information that is provided by senior members of the Trust and sense check it to ensure consistency and rationality.

c. The ability to interpret regulations and guidance for the benefit of the Trust when dealing with healthcare matters.

Person specification

As per JD and Person Specificaiton

Essential criteria

• A qualified solicitor or barrister of England and Wales or demonstrable equivalent significant experience of working as a legal advisor on healthcare matters.
• Demonstrable experience in healthcare law as a legal advisor on a variety of healthcare matters.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to prepare comprehensive reports on claims and inquests for various committees, (often at short notice) to bring learning and key knowledge to the Trust.
• Experience in Court of Protection matters.

IMPORTANT

• Check your email account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you
• If you delete the job from any of your accounts, you may be prevented from accessing further communications
• To enquire about your application or inform us of any changes in your circumstances, please contact the named person on this advert
• Please provide email addresses for referees where possible
• Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust’s criminal records checking policy
• All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
• Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

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King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.