Head of Legal Services

FHFT have an exciting opportunity to lead the Legal Services Team at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. The team works closely with the patient safety and governance as well as the clinical teams.
You will be responsible for managing a caseload of claims and inquests in accordance with national and local policies and procedures. You will liaise with individuals at all levels, including the Trust executive team, solicitors, NHS Resolution, HM Coroner, the police and members of the public.
You will have a detailed understanding of civil law procedures and the principles of negligence. You will be able to work in a high pressure environment and will have excellent communication skills. You will also have the capacity to deal with highly sensitive situations and the ability to work effectively and professionally with colleagues across the Trust and with external agencies
This position is full time cross site role. You will report directly to the Deputy Chief Nurse., + Leadership and management of Legal Services Team
+ Trust lead for management of inquests
+ Manage the litigation function within the Trust, including all aspects of medico-legal, personal injury and property expense claims
+ Budget holder for NHSR scheme contributions
+ To provide/obtain legal advice on Court of Protection matters and other matters as required.
+ To identify and progress issues of concern that arise during claims and inquest investigations in order to reduce the instances of poor outcomes, subsequent potential claims and associated costs
+ To provide legal advice and guidance where required to the Trust, + Leadership and management of Legal Services Team
+ Trust lead for management of inquests
+ Manage the litigation function within the Trust, including all aspects of medico-legal, personal injury and property expense claims
+ Budget holder for NHSR scheme contributions
+ To provide/obtain legal advice on Court of Protection matters and other matters as required.
+ To identify and progress issues of concern that arise during claims and inquest investigations in order to reduce the instances of poor outcomes, subsequent potential claims and associated costs
+ To provide legal advice and guidance where required to the Trust
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.
We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.
We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.
We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR - Epic - went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.
Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.
Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.
We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.
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