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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To be the main point of contact for families, significant others and carers during patient safety incident learning response related to a service user. Identifying and establishing relationships with families and carers as soon as possible.

Establishing communications with affected families, guide and support them through the investigation process to the conclusion as required; to meet the needs of each family/ carers as is reasonably possible. Being culturally aware and informed about the specific needs of the patient, their family and carers.

Work alongside the learning response leads about the progress of the investigation / review to ensure that relevant information is conveyed to the family in accordance with the communication plan.

Create a professional relationship of trust and honesty that will enable families to ask the questions that they wish to be answered as part of the investigation / review process.

Listen and manage queries in a proactive manner, signposting individuals to other services when necessary including bereavement and other types of counselling. It may be necessary to establish the first contact with these services on behalf of the individuals.

Contribute to formal reports to Trust meetings including the Trust wide Quality and Safety Group and Learning Collaborative Partnership. Reports may include case studies, identification of learning and arrangements for sharing lessons, activity data and analysis of the effectiveness of the family liaison services offered by the Trust.

Become a Trust expert resource in relation to understanding, interpretation and implementation of Duty of Candour obligations as required by the NHS Standard Contract and the Care Quality Commission regulation 20. Assist with the audit of the Trust wide compliance to regulation 20.

Attend Coroners courts when required as a representative of the Trust in coordination with the investigating officers.

Work closely with colleagues in the psychology directorate, when required.

Has the ability to risk assess and escalate concerns to the most appropriate person.

Design and deliver family liaison and duty of candour communication skills training to Trust staff. Engage bereaved families and carers in delivering training where appropriate in either a group of one to one session. Being prepared and flexible to short time scale requests for training.

Provide supervision to Family Liaison Officers that are assigned a FLO case, ensuring the cases are discussed and emotional support is provided.

Stay updated on national best practice and initiatives relating to family and carer liaison support.

Work with bereaved families and carers to develop services in association with Trust clinical services and external partners, such as the Samaritans and other organisations. Support the Trust commitment to a zero suicide ambition.

On an on-going basis, assess risks relevant to the role and raise any concerns to the most appropriate person.

Lead officer for developing, reviewing and updating Trust policies and guidelines relevant to their remit in accordance with best practice and national guidance.

Responsible for benchmarking exercises and developing external networks in order to stay updated with family engagement activities and practice in other organisations including private and voluntary sectors.

To be responsible for horizon scanning through detection of early trends and themes in incidents and cases.

Contribute towards the decision-making situations, requiring analysis and comparison of a range of options. There will be complex situations and facts which will require analysis and assessment and may be conflicting. To provide analytical summary relating to clinical information.

Provide reports and briefings for the Head of Patient Safety Incident Management on Duty of Candour compliance, FLO activity, potential risks and identified learning.

Draw up clear guidelines for Family Liaison Officers, highlighting expectations in terms of formulating communication plans with families, liaising with patient safety incident investigators, recording information and attending meetings as part of the patient safety incident response process.

Ensure the role of Family Liaison Officer is fully equipped with skills, knowledge, situational and behavioural awareness to provide compassionate and professional support following a patient safety incident.

Arrange and chair bi-monthly Family Liaison Officers peer supervision sessions, ensuring there is an agreed agenda, action points are followed up and appropriate speakers are invited to the meetings. Engage in live events and teaching sessions for Family Liaison Officer Role to promote and encourage attendance at group training opportunities.

Contribute to the development and improvement of a systems learning approach and cultural changes associated with the introduction of the patient safety incident response framework and lead on allocated improvement and innovation projects.

o undertake/lead patient safety incident reviews in line with defined requirements ensuring that these are completed within the required timeframe in a robust and unbiased manner when there are capacity issues with the patient safety incident management team.

To undertake Quality Assurance Peer Review of Learning Response Reports that have taken place, using the Peer Review Tool.

To have supervisory responsibility for junior staff within the team

Responsible for monitoring Family Liaison expenditure against budget spend.