Request for Information Officer

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Review and assess the scope of the Inquiry and support with the implementation of the plan to collect and collate all information and records required.

To administer the Trusts COVID-19 public inquiry project plan.

To organise requests for information from the public inquiry and prepare appropriate responses for sign off by the Trusts Inquiry Manager, after which submission to the inquiry can be made.

For completing the day-to-day work of ensuring how the Trust prepares itself for the COVID-19 public inquiry.

To support the Data Security and Protection team in the continued development of the Trusts COVID-19 Inquiry Response Plan.

Resolve issues and problems when difficulties relating to the delivery of the project and collection of data arise.

To organise significant volumes of data and information in a way which will enable the Trust to readily provide responses to the public inquiry when required. This will be undertaken electronically with the use of Microsoft Office Word and Excel, as well as other systems which may be adopted by NHS England as part of the inquiry.

Implement a records management process that allows the wider organisation to support in the delivery of the project.

Supporting the COVID Inquiry Manager advise senior staff involved in the pandemic response to develop agreed and evidence-backed position statements against national and regional directives issued to the Trust throughout the pandemic

Working with senior staff across the Trust to collate and store potentially sensitive information and evidence which may be used in the Trusts response to the COVID19 public inquiry.

Adapt and alter the records and information management process to reflect any changes in the scope of the project to be easily classified.

Ensuring appropriate records are maintained in order to provide an audit trail of decisions made.

Liaise with colleagues in Data Security and Protection Team to ensure the project approach and deliverables are adhering to best practice.

Ensure that data collected is prepared, organised and structured in an appropriate manner.

Provide relevant and timely updates that support the COVID Inquiry Manager to deliver the wider Public Inquiry response.

Communicate effectively with all key stakeholders to ensure that all COVID Inquiry information is collated from all areas.

Support the COVID Inquiry manager with the preparation of updates and papers for meetings as required.

Actively assist and take the lead in locating physical records that are needed for the COVID Inquiry response these may be stored in all areas of the Trust and must be retrieved and handled as necessary.

Providing advice and guidance to staff on the disclosure of information in accordance with current legislation with assistance from the COVID Inquiry Manager as necessary.

Ensure that any exemptions are applied to the data sets and these are communicated, redacted and recorded appropriately.

Workforce

To provide training, advice and guidance to colleagues as and when required.

To ensure patient confidentiality at all times.

To deliver training relevant to the COVID Inquiry.

Other

Maintain the security of the Office.

Assist and propose the COVID Inquiry Manager to implement policies and changes to Standard Operating procedures in line with new legislation or systems.

Assist with other routine duties as delegated by the COVID Inquiry Manager or DSP Manager.

Support the DSP Manager when responding to complaints in relation to the COVID Inquiry via the Information Commissioners office or the public.

Support the development of existing and new systems including data inputting, reviewing data capture and data analysis to continually improve the service.

Update the Intranet pages as appropriate, ensuring it is up to date with pertinent advice guidance, with applicable FAQs and relevant legislation.

Undertakes surveys or audits as required within the COVID Inquiry responses to test effectiveness of procedures and compliance.

Escalate to manager if performance indicators demonstrate non-achievement against expected standard.

Partnerships

The post holder will develop and maintain good working relationships with DSP Team colleagues and key team members in cross working teams including Clinical Governance, Procurement, IPC, Operations, EPRR and Corporate Governance. The post holder will also develop good working relationships with staff across the organisation, in order to provide advice and guidance on RFI matters.

The post holder will be able to communicate effectively and articulately with members of staff, and be a key contact for the group for all queries in respect of the COVID Inquiry.

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to NVQ level 4 or equivalent level of education, training or experience
• Proven IT Skills

Desirable

• Supervisory qualification

Skills

Essential

• Supervisory skills
• Excellent keyboard skills
• Numeracy and literacy
• Effective Written and verbal communication skills
• Well-developed interpersonal skills including well-developed influencing and conflict management skills
• Well-developed interpersonal skills including well-developed influencing and conflict management skills x Able to liaise with people in a professional manner at all levels including staff within NGH and KGH and other Trusts and members of the general public
• Excellent planning and organisational skills
• Ability to prioritise complex requests to a high standard
• Proven team worker
• An enthusiastic and professional attitude
• Ability to work under pressure, deal with frequent interruptions and competing demands from staff or work related queries
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to learn new systems quickly

Desirable

• Ability to deal with challenging experiences such as distressed patients/relatives/staff with kindness and respect
• Ability to articulate issues and concerns

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Innovative and resilient
• Concentration and dealing with interruptions in a professional manner
• Self-Motivated
• Good leadership skills
• A team player
• Able to cope with frequent and prolonged use of VDU screen, keyboard and mouse
• Ability to retrieve records in person from departments and wards around the Group

Desirable

• A flexible attitude
• Show compassion, accountability, respect, integrity and courage
• Lifting sorting, general handling of paper medical records

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Knowledge and good understanding of the FOI Act, Data Protection Act 2018, Access to Health Records Act and the UK General Data Protection Regulation
• Experience of Patient Administration Systems e.g CaMIS, Careflow

Desirable

• Experience of systems that hold medical records e.g. EDMS, Symphony, Careflow, PCS, RTT
• Experience within a Medical Records Office
• Experience of supervising a team
• Experience of managing access requests in line with the Data Protection Act
• Dealing with distressed patients, relatives, staff

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 (Opens in a new tab).

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 (Opens in a new tab).