Claims and Inquest Manager | South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join a growing legal services team on a fixed term basis as Claims and Inquest Manager. This exciting opportunity will provide the ideal candidate with an opportunity to be part of the Trust's Corporate Directorate and contribute towards the established positive engagement with our patient safety, governance and experience teams, continuing our focus on improving our patient's safety and experience. The post holder will investigate and co-ordinate a portfolio of clinical and non -clinical claims, working closely with internal and external partners including NHS Resolution and our panel solicitors to ensure claims are resolved fairly and efficiently. The post holder will also be responsible for the co-ordination and management of a portfolio of inquests, working closely with HM Coroners officers to ensure we meet the requirements of the Coroner and when required provide support and guidance to staff who attend to give evidence. The successful candidate will be able to organise their workload efficiently to meet deadlines. They will be self-directing and work independently within the Team structure, with the ability to establish and maintain effective communication with individuals and groups about difficult or complex matters, overcoming any problems in communication. The post holder will be reporting to the Head of Legal Services, liaising on a daily basis with external stakeholders as well as frontline clinicians, operational managers and corporate staff across the Trust., The post holder is responsible for the daily management of legal services and line management of legal administrative staff. The post holder will work to agreed objectives for the service and manage their own workload as appropriate. The Head of Legal Services will provide guidance and support through management supervision. In addition, objectives will be set and there will be regular review and monitoring. Claims Management

• Day to day management of the Trust's Claims / Inquests function to ensure claims are effectively managed in accordance with the Trust's Claims Policy, NHSR Scheme Rules, Civil Procedure Rules, Pre-action Protocols and Coroners Rules to minimise financial, reputational and other risks to the Trust.
• Work closely with the Trust's solicitors and NHSR claims handlers, challenging their decisions where appropriate (including in relation to highly complex cases) to protect the Trust from unwarranted criticism and ensure the Trust's views are made clear.
• Work with NHSR in the instruction of solicitors, barristers and independent experts as necessary to ensure the effective investigation, assessment and defence of claims. Ensure good communications with external legal representatives, arranging meetings as necessary.
• Representing the Trust at court hearings as required.
• Promote the prevention of claims and minimise associated costs to the Trust by identifying the appropriate support, information, training and development that will enable learning.
• Be responsible for the evaluation of financial costs associated with legal claims identifying where costs could be reduced.
• Identify lessons learned from individual claims and legal issues as well as themes, trends and patterns, working closely with key senior managers to advise and implement solutions and plans to prevent future harm, loss or damage.
• Assess all new potential and actual claims by investigating and interpreting a range of facts to identify whether any breach of duty may have occurred and conduct an assessment of liability. These can range from complex to highly complex and/or contentious facts and situations requiring sensitive handling, especially when relating to clinical negligence claims potentially leading to significant compensation.
• Ensure all staff involved in clinical negligence claims (who are often extremely concerned about their involvement in what can be highly distressing and emotional cases) are supported in accordance with the Trust's support mechanisms and that they are kept updated with the progress of any claims.
• Be responsible for ensuring external claims handlers and legal representatives dealing with Trust claims are provided with appropriate and accurate information to mitigate the risks for the Trust. This will include but is not limited to personal records, clinical records, clinician and manager views and Trust policies and SOPs.
• Attending meetings with internal and external parties and advocating for the Trust to ensure that the Trusts position in relation to litigation cases is protected.
Inquests
• Be responsible for assessing incoming coronial requests to ensure that contentious and potentially contentious high risk inquests are identified and escalated to the Head of Legal Services and other relevant parties at an early stage.
• Managing contentious inquests effectively to reduce risks to the Trust, including associated claims and adverse publicity.
• Work with managers across the Directorate and Patient Experience and Information Governance teams to ensure that matters that may become contentious inquests are identified and are managed effectively from an early stage. Highlight areas of particular concern to the Head of Legal Services and relevant Directors.
• Represent and advocate for the Trust at Pre-inquest Review Meetings and inquest hearings. With cases involving highly sensitive and complex clinical situations, a significant level of interpersonal skill is required to support understanding across all parties. A high degree of preparation will also be required to ensure the Trust is well-represented and its staff supported.
• Where directed, be responsible for arranging external legal representation, applying for NHSR funding and negotiating with the NHSR to protect the Trust from accruing unnecessary financial costs. Where external representatives are instructed, be responsible for working closely with them to manage the inquest effectively and minimise costs.
• Anticipate issues likely to arise during the inquest hearing and ensure appropriate witnesses, including senior managers, provide reports and/or attend to deal with any points that may arise.
• Be responsible for overseeing disclosure requests from Coroners ensuring they are responded to in a timely fashion.
• Liaise with Coroner's offices to develop a good understanding of Coroner working practices across the Trust's area and build strong working relationships.
• Ensure staff involved in all inquests are supported; particularly those involved in difficult and highly contentious inquests, taking responsibility for ensuring operational management teams are notified.
• Take formal notes when advocating at inquests and, if necessary, ensure these are fully transcribed to brief Directors. This may involve several days' attendance and will occur on a frequent basis.
• Prepare accurate and detailed responses to Prevention of Future Deaths reports received by the Coroner for review and sign off by the Chief Executive. This will involve meeting with key personnel, reviewing complex documents and interpreting the information in an appropriate format to respond to the Coroner's concerns.
• Ensure that learning from inquests and Coroner's recommendations is captured and fed back to the appropriate function within the Trust in order that appropriate plans can be put in place.
Claims/Inquests function
• Ensure the Trust's Claims Policy and associated procedures remain up to date and compliant with legal obligations, national guidelines and best practice.
• Develop and implement an annual programme of work and development plan for the Claims/Inquests team
• Deputise for the Head of Legal Services as required
• Provide resilience for the Head of Legal Services where required.
• Be responsible for protecting the Trust's financial position by obtaining cost effective legal advice in respect of claims and inquests negotiating fees as appropriate. Review invoices from legal advisors, raising any queries as necessary.
• Maintain effective relationships with the Trust's legal advisors, defining the extent of their responsibilities and reporting arrangements.
• Comply with the Legal Services team's record keeping systems in place to allow for robust claims management and reporting.
• Provide reports for the Trust Board of Directors and appropriate Committees and Groups on claims and inquests as required. This will involve collating, analysing and interpreting claims and inquest qualitative and quantitative data and presenting it in an appropriate form.
• Provide advice and guidance on legal issues, and, where appropriate, liaise with the NHSR and Trust solicitors where further advice or clarification is required, or instruct them as appropriate.
• Research new legislation for relevance, highlighting implications for the Trust.
The post-holder will be a member or representative at any Trust committee and/or working group as necessary in accordance with the requirements of their role or as delegated to them. Communication
• Provide advice and guidance regarding inquest and litigation matters, at all levels within the organisation, and to claimants (patients or their relatives) and their representatives. These will often relate to highly sensitive and emotional subjects, particularly at inquests which may involve extremely distressing factors including where the Trust has been at fault.
• Ensure that the Head of Legal Services is briefed on issues relating to the claims and inquest function, particularly where a case may present serious concerns for the Trust.
• Prepare reports for the Trust Board of Directors and relevant Committees and Groups on issues related to the Trust's claims management function as required.
• Review and interpret external guidance and legislation related to claims management and discuss the requirement for the implement of any new systems to comply with the guidance.
• Deliver organisational training on claims.
• Actively maintain communication channels with other departments for the purpose of ensuring a co-ordinated approach to claims management within the Trust.
• Provide effective liaison with Coroners, solicitors and NHSR.
• Represent the Trust at meetings and networking events.
Training
• Provide training and guidance to identified Trust staff and managers on claims and inquests procedures and associated processes, for example, statement completion, witness preparation.
• Complete the Trust's mandatory training requirements identified for the role.
• Induct new staff within team as appropriate, ensuring they are aware of all necessary procedures, policies and information necessary to carry out their role.
Personal Development
• Take part in activities that lead to personal and/or team growth.
• Attend supervision and appraisal sessions with the Head of Legal Services.
• Take a lead in identifying own development needs.
  
  The post holder will need to be able to manage priorities effectively and support continuous improvement in the quality of services. Appropriate knowledge, skills and experience are essential attributes., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.


• Holiday entitlement of 27 days, rising to 29 days after 5 years' service and 33 days after 10 years' service, plus an additional 8 days bank holiday (pro rata for part time).
• Automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.
• Access to continual professional development within SCAS and the wider NHS.
• Occupational Health support and direct access to our Employee Assistance Programme as well as our own Health and Wellbeing Team.
• NHS Discounts in over 200 + stores saving money on holidays, days out, car insurance, restaurants, clothing and much more.
• Ability to join our staff networking groups (as a member, ally or just for interest).
Corporate Induction It's really important for us to ensure you have the best onboarding experience which allows you to feel a sense of belonging from the start. To help with this, we will book your Corporate Induction as soon as we possibly can (depending on availability). All new starters need to attend our
• Corporate Induction in person, this is held over one and half days from our educational centres based in: Newbury (Berkshire), Bicester (Oxfordshire) or Whiteley (Hampshire). More specific details will be sent to you once your start date has been confirmed.
• Please note - depending on your role additional training may be required following on from your corporate induction.