Lawyers / Legal Reviewers

The team is responsible for reviewing final fitness to practise panel decisions of the 10 regulators we oversee. Section 29 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 provides the PSA with a discretion to refer these decisions to the relevant Court. Where we make a referral, the Court will decide whether to overturn the decision. You can find out more about our Section 29 work here.

What you will do

Key tasks and responsibilities of the role include:

• Conducting reviews of fitness to practise decisions to identify whether they may be insufficient for public protection, making written recommendations for consideration in relation to potential appeals.


• Acting as a decision maker for section 29 case meetings in considering whether the PSA should bring an appeal of a fitness to practise decision under section 29 of the 2002 National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act.


• Working with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.


• Consider, collate and disseminate good practice and learning in relation to fitness to practise matters.


• Assisting with training provided to internal and external stakeholders.


• Assisting the Head of Legal and any external legal advisers in the management of cases and potential appeals under section 29 of the 2002 Act or judicial review proceedings. This includes holding and progressing a caseload through our process.


• Providing legal advice and conduct legal research.


• Working with other teams within the PSA to provide advice in respect of fitness to practise., The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) is a strategic organisation with a key role in ensuring high standards of patient safety through excellence in regulation. We promote the health, safety and wellbeing of patients, service users and the public by raising standards of regulation and registration of people working in health and care. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament. We are a small organisation that is respected for its expertise.
  
  We are looking to recruit a qualified lawyer who has:


• An understanding of fitness to practise legislation and processes of regulators of health and care professionals.


• The ability to produce detailed analyses of fitness to practise cases to make written recommendations as to whether those decisions meet the legal threshold for an appeal under section 29 of the 2002 Act.


• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and someone who can communicate complex concepts clearly.


• The ability to manage relationships with external Counsel and solicitors to ensure our appeals work is conducted effectively.


• The ability to work in a flexible, effective and collaborative manner in a small organisation and team.


• Strong analytical skills with excellent attention to detail.


• Excellent organisational and time management skills.


• The ability to prioritise work and work to deadlines.


You will need and a strong commitment to protecting patients and the public. You will also need to share our values of integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork.

The PSA's offices are currently located in Blackfriars, London.