Job summary
Reporting to the Head of Legal (Advisory & Inquests) and Associate Head of Legal (Advisory & Inquests) and working under their own initiative at a senior level, the Senior Legal Officer will: -
- Be responsible for the management and provision of expert legal advice across all sites for the designated Speciality Team (Advisory & Inquests).
- Be responsible for ensuring staff across all services and sites are adequately advised and supported.
- Assist in the management of the to day to day running of the designated Speciality Team, including support of the Legal Admin Team and the Legal Administrative Team Leader.
- Jointly lead on the critical evaluation of the Trust's policies and practice to interpret whether these provide assurance and promote the Trust's patient safety and patient-centred values.
- Assist in preparing board reports and briefs on high profile matters.
- Jointly lead on triangulation and identification of relevant incidents, inquests, claims, advisory and complaints.
Be responsible for the instruction and management of out-sourced legal services; ensuring the efficient and effective management of all advice on a broad range of legal matters.
Main duties of the job
- Liaise with HM Coroner and his/her Officers to meet the requirements of the Coroner's Court.
- Ensure the Trust is compliant with the requirements under the Coroner's and Justice Act 2009 and the Coroners Rules 2013.
- Provide expert advice and support on procedures for inquests.
- Ensure statements are requested and received in a timely fashion. Provide expert review of witness statements, ensuring all witness statements are quality checked prior to disclosure.
- Support and adequately prepare staff for the role of witness before, throughout and after the inquest.
- Obtain statements and any other information which the Coroner requires.
- Arrange and manage de-brief sessions for staff, during and following inquests, as required.
- Provide expert ongoing analysis of the case to ensure appropriate representation is in place for the hearing, including applications to the NHSR for funding where appropriate.
- Support on ensuring the communications team are aware of any potential media interest relating to an inquest
About us
MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.
Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 28,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.
We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.
We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form. Diversity MattersMFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.
Were looking forward to hearing from you!
Job description
Job responsibilities
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form. Diversity MattersMFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.
Were looking forward to hearing from you!
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- oEducation to Degree level or equivalent plus further management experience or training to post graduate diploma level or equivalent
- oExpert understanding of the legal policy, and inspection framework
- oExtensive experience of litigation/inquests in the NHS
- oAbility to organise and prioritise workload
- Advocacy skills
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- oEducation to Degree level or equivalent plus further management experience or training to post graduate diploma level or equivalent
- oExpert understanding of the legal policy, and inspection framework
- oExtensive experience of litigation/inquests in the NHS
- oAbility to organise and prioritise workload
- Advocacy skills
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
