Senior Lawyer, Band 8a

Job overview

The role of the Senior Lawyer is to support the Legal Services team in the provision of a dedicated in-house legal service in order to mitigate risks and achieve cost savings across the following core areas:

- Claims: management of clinical negligence and third-party claims, in line with NHSR's schemes. To work closely with clinicians and Trust Divisions to robustly defend claims and protect the interests of the Trust

- Inquests: support and representation of staff in the Coroner's Court, working closely with local Coroner's Officers on a large portfolio of inquests

- Healthcare advice: including advice for clinical and non-clinical situations

- Disclosure requests: assisting the Coroner, Police, Local Authority, and any other authorized third party as required. These may be complex proceedings.

- Training: providing internal and external training on core work areas.

The proposed interview date is: 20th November

Job description

The Senior Lawyer will have experience in one or more of the above detailed core areas managed by the Legal Team.

The Solicitor will be required to undertake the following duties:

1. Clinical Negligence Claims

2. Reporting

3. Third Party Claims

4. Training

5. Inquests

6. Other Court cases

7. Healthcare advice

8. Support to staff

9. Clinical governance and learning

10. Development

11. To participate in the on-call rota for urgent Police requests

12. To Assist with any other reasonable request by the Head of Legal Services, as appropriate

Job responsibilities

We are looking for a Senior Lawyer who shares our passion to support staff in the delivery of outstanding healthcare and demonstrates the Trusts values to achieve that aim.

We recognise that working in-house is a niche role and would be keen to hear from candidates with relevant experience who have an interest in developing a fulfilling career in the NHS. We pride ourselves on providing all our advice and inquest representation in-house where possible, being accessible to all Trust staff for advice and support, and for our ability to get the best outcome on claims.

Additional Contact Details

Additional contact number: 0300 422 3160

About the organisation

We take pride in placing people at the centre of everything we do, working together as a united team. Driven by a shared ambition to continually grow, develop, and learn, we recognise and value every contribution. By combining our experience and skills, we not only support our vibrant, diverse communities, but also support one another.

With a team of over 9,000 employees, we are proud to be the largest employer in Gloucestershire and rank among the top 10 largest Trusts in the South West region. By joining our Trust, you will benefit from an excellent package that includes exclusive benefits, flexible working opportunities and the chance to gain valuable experience in one or both of our innovative hospitals.

As well as generous annual leave allowance, you will have access to the excellent NHS pension scheme, competitive bank rates, discounts at local shops and restaurants, access to two on-site nurseries, discounted public transport, reward and recognition and a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Law degree or equivalent
• Qualified Solicitor or Legal Executive with current appropriate legal experience
• Strong evidence of continuing personal and professional development

Experience

Essential

• Experience of Managing Claims; clinical negligence claims would be advantageous
• Experience in any of the other core areas (inquests, healthcare advice, other court cases, disclosure)

Desirable

• Experience of reporting and analysing data to demonstrate trends and learning
• Ability to supervise junior members of staff
• Experience of managing third party claims, including employers' and public liability claims
• Experience of working in-house for a large NHS organisation
• Knowledge of medical terminology from working with clinicians in an NHS environment

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Demonstrable case management experience
• Ability to work collaboratively within an in-house legal team working across sites
• Experience of managing competing priorities in a stressful environment, displaying resilience
• High attention to detail
• Reliable point of contact for clinicians who require support
• Displays initiative in offering solutions and being keen to learn
• Displays initiative and a willingness to learn, alongside the drive to independently take forward a project for which they will have responsibility
• Ability to adapt to assist with other core areas of work, if required

Desirable

• Interest in strengthening reporting provision on core areas and analysing data to demonstrate added value
• Interest in developing the Legal team's intranet page as a means of reliable, informative communication with staff

Supporting documents

• 318-26-T0687 Job Description and Person Specification.docx (DOCX, 355 KB)