Senior Information Governance Officer

Job overview

The Senior Information Governance (IG) Officer will manage the IG Support Officer and be responsible for handling police requests, ensuring that each request is acknowledged and responded to in a timely manner. The post-holder will be responsible for the co-ordination of all relevant policies and procedures and for recommending changes to ensure the maintenance of compliance with Data Protection legislation across King’s College Hospital.

Main duties of the job

• To use their specialist knowledge to provide advice and training around IG, including Freedom of Information (FOI), Data protection (DP), information rights and Confidentiality.
• To make recommendations for the provision of clear and accessible guidance to all staff groups and to ensure the organisation meets both its statutory and legal obligations.
• To take a solution focused approach to IG encouraging a culture of identifying opportunities and designing systems and services in a way that complies with Data Protection legislation, ensuring that the implementation of the service is achieved in a practical and supportive way and that IG is not perceived as an obstacle or blocker.

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£1.8 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

General Information Governance (IG)

• Act as the first point of contact for IG and Information enquiries, some of which will be of a confidential nature, referring enquirers onward where appropriate.
• Provide guidance and advice to Trust teams and senior management on a wide range of complex IG matters and escalate as required to enhance service delivery and patient care.
• Assist with and co-ordinate the production, collation and systematic returns and recording of evidence to support compliance with the Data Security & Protection Toolkit.
• Support key investigations into reported IG related incidents creating reports for the IGSG as required. This will include evaluation of reported incidents and assisting with the gathering of relevant information as part of investigations and presenting that information in written reports.
• Promote and raise staff awareness of IG by working with other team members to plan, organise and deliver training programmes to staff at all levels of the organisation. This may include staff induction, mandatory training – including face to face and e-learning and ad hoc training.
• Create and maintain dashboards and performance reports against key performance indicators evidencing IG compliance and progress, and highlighting issues to the IG Manager.
• Ensuring policies, procedures and learning materials are updated and maintained.
• Managing the Trust’s data sharing register and following up with Trust leads where expired agreements are in place so as to ensure documentation is regularly updated.
• Plan, coordinate, and conduct IG audits (spot checks) of clinical and corporate departments for all Trust sites, and provide written feedback detailing any issues found and appropriate actions to the relevant Service Managers.
• Provide support and advice on SAR and FOI related queries to the FOI and SARs teams and staff as required.
• Co-ordinate IG risk assessments and reviews, including Data Protection Impact Assessments for new and existing systems/processes involving processing of personal data and organise meetings as appropriate.
• Support and help manage collection and collation of information for Data Flow mapping and Asset Registers, including where appropriate offering training and support as directed by the IG Service Manager.
• Attend meetings on behalf of the IG team as required.
• To work to a high level of accuracy, autonomously and without direct supervision and at the same time report and be accountable to management.
• To manage police request for information and provide support to teams who manage police requests.
• To manage the IG Support Officer to ensure that all police requests for information held by King’s are responded to in line with legislative requirements and in a timely manner.
• Making recommendations regarding the maintenance of the IG web pages on both the intranet and internet websites.
• Deputising for IG Manager when required to provide advice and support for projects.
• Identifying opportunities for sharing wider learning with staff and deliver these where appropriate
• Undertaking such additional tasks as the IG Manager may determine and which are appropriate to the grade, including those tasks and projects which are related to the development of IG across King’s.

Project Management

• Undertake ad-hoc projects when required as directed by the IG Manager and ensure that privacy by design approach is adopted.
• Support in developing project plans with sound analytical judgement ensuring consistency with the agreed project scope.
• Produce regular project progress reports and send regular updates to key stakeholders to follow up on actions / flag potential risks.
• Identify and assess the main IG priorities and risk associated with the Project.
• Arrange and attend meetings, including forward agenda planning, preparing papers and taking minutes.
• Ensure all project documentation is recorded and approved (plans and logs).
• Support in evaluating effectiveness of project planning and implementation ensuring active engagement with stakeholders and end users at all times.
• Work with other members of the team to ensure that on delivery of key project deliverables, policies, procedures and guidelines are up dated accordingly.

General

• The post holder has a general duty of care for their own health, safety and wellbeing and that of work colleagues, visitors and patients within the hospital, in addition to any specific risk management or clinical governance accountabilities associated with this post.
• To observe the rules, policies, procedures and standards of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust together with all relevant statutory and professional obligations.
• We want to be an organisation where everyone shares a commitment to delivering the very best care and feels like their contribution is valuable and valued.
• At King’s we are 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
• To observe and maintain strict confidentiality of personal information relating to patients and staff.
• To be responsible, with management support, for their own personal development and to actively contribute to the development of colleagues.
• This job description is intended as a guide to the general scope of duties and is not intended to be definitive or restrictive. It is expected that some of the duties will change over time and this description will be subject to review in consultation with the post holder.
• All employees must hold an 'nhs.net' email account which will be the Trust's formal route for email communication.

Safeguarding

The Trust takes the issues of Safeguarding Children, Adults and addressing Domestic Abuse very seriously. All employees have a responsibility to support the organisation in our duties by;

• attending mandatory training on safeguarding children and adults
• familiarising themselves with the Trust's processes for reporting concerns
• reporting any safeguarding child or adult concerns appropriately

Infection Control Statement

The post holder has an important responsibility for and contribution to infection control and must be familiar with the infection control and hygiene procedures and requirements when in clinical areas.

The post holder has an important responsibility for and contribution to make to infection control and must be familiar with the infection control and hygiene requirements of this role.

These requirements are set out in the National Code of Practice on Infection Control and in local policies and procedures which will be made clear during your induction and subsequent refresher training. These standards must be strictly complied with at all times.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Degree in relevant subject or equivalent significant experience of working in an Information Governance (IG) role.
• Knowledge of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT)
• Knowledge of key legislation and national guidance, including UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 and Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working in the field of IG or similar governance/compliance area.
• Understanding of IG-related legislation and standards, including Confidentiality, Records Management, Data Sharing, Privacy and wider IG Requirements.
• Knowledge of Information Security principles.
• Experience of dealing with complex issues and ability to analyse information to identify what is required and seek appropriate responses.
• Experience of managing a busy mailbox and responding promptly to queries.
• Experience of liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders, and the ability to build effective working relationships.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision by using one’s own initiative and prioritising workload.
• Excellent written communication skills (minutes of meetings, collation of existing guidance, reports, etc.).
• Experience of administrating web-based tools, such as compliance systems and DSPT.
• Experience of managing staff.
• Ability to work to a demanding work schedule, with good organisational skills and the ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present material on technical subjects in an clear and engaging way to all staff.
• Ability to work with a high degree of accuracy, detail and judgement.
• Ability to undertake thematic analyses of risks, incidents and other compliance elements.
• Good numerical skills and ability to analyse complex issues.
• Good IT skills, including email management, word processing, spreadsheet manipulation, presentation and database software.
• Ability to work both independently and effectively with a team, including listening, involving, respecting and learning from others.
• Evidence of commitment to personal development and training.
• A good understanding and experience of working for the NHS.

Desirable criteria

• Project management qualification or experience.
• Experience of undertaking audits.

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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