Band 7 Senior Legal Officer

Job summary

University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is an incredibly rewarding place to work, offering a working environment with an inclusive culture that looks after and values our people and creates a sense of belonging.

The legal services team is responsible for a portfolio of clinical negligence and public/employer liability claims, Inquests and the provision of healthcare advice. The scope of work is wide and interesting with the working being busy making this a challenging but extremely satisfying and rewarding role.

This role offers both management of a mixed and interesting caseload alongside the day to day management of the legal services team.

The role involves collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders and regular analysis and interpretation of complex information, supporting the team and acting as a first point of contact for healthcare related legal queries that arise.

You will be involved in making positive changes to Trust processes and guidance and in sharing learning and themes from claims and Inquests in order to support improvements in quality and patient safety.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

The key aspects of the role will include the day to day operational management of the legal team and being responsible for team queries, annual leave, sickness absence, appraisals and any employment processes. You will also managed a mixed caseload of complex clinical negligence/employer and public liability claims, Inquests and will be required to provide advice and guidance on Trust policies relevant to claims management, coronial law and, where appropriate, on healthcare related legal matters escalating as appropriate to the Head of Legal.

You will have a proven track record of line management experience alongside claims management experience.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;
Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.

Job description

*Please Note*: For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description* 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

* Educated to degree standard with appropriate post graduate level courses or substantial experience at a comparable level Law Degree and/or appropriate qualification 

Experience

Essential

* Previous medical negligence/employer liability claims experience

* Previous Coronial/Inquest management experience

* Experience of staff management

* Proven ability to work to tight deadlines

* Able to demonstrate a clear understanding of CPR, the claims process and MHC Rules & Regulations

* Strong technical knowledge in areas relevant to legal healthcare practice

* Good understanding of the principles of investigations management, root cause analysis techniques and Clinical Governance

* Understanding data -- extracts, collates, quantitatively analyses and validates data, recognising alternative solution where necessary

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

For help with your application, contact: 

Kelly Trimble 

Kelly.Trimble@uhb.nhs.uk