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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

Coroners Inquests

·       Establish and maintain close and effective working relationships with the Hertfordshire Coroners and their Officers, and potentially with the Coroners and Officers from any jurisdiction within the UK.

·       Respond to inquiries received from Coroner’s Officers in a timely manner.

·       Retrieve and prepare medical records stored on the Trust’s electronic patient record systems, and other forms of information, such as policies, to assist the Coroner and/or the Solicitor acting for the Trust, where applicable.

·       Responsible on behalf of the Legal Services Manager for:

Ø  Contacting and advising Trust staff who are required to provide witness statements for the Coroner.

Ø  Ensuring statements are received within timescales provided by the Coroner’s Officers, or where this may not be possible alerting the Coroner’s Officer of the difficulty and potential delay.

Ø  Arranging and co-ordinating pre-Inquest meetings to ensure that all Trust staff are fully prepared for giving oral evidence in advance of the Coroner’s hearing.

·       Based on knowledge and experience of what constitutes an Inquest with potential for an adverse outcome, alert the Legal Services Manager at an early stage as appropriate.

·       Provide guidance and advice to Trust staff who have been asked to prepare a statement or attend an inquest on their role and the purpose and procedures in relation to Inquests in general, giving reassurance and support as necessary.

·       Attend Inquests if requested by the Legal Services Manager, to take notes of the key evidence presented and of the conclusion reached.

·       Manage and maintain the Inquests log and the electronic filing system, ensuring there is a link between Inquests and Incidents using Datix, to enable accurate reporting and information sharing within the Trust.

Employer / Public Liability / Clinical Negligence Claims

·       Provide administrative support to the Legal Services Manager in the management of claims received against the Trust, in particular by:

Ø  Liaising with service managers to obtain relevant documentation to support the defence of a claim.

Ø  Retrieving and preparing medical records stored on the Trust’s electronic patient record systems, and other forms of information, such as policies.

Ø  Preparing payment requisitions as requested by the Legal Services Manager and submitting completed requisitions to the Trust’s Finance department.

·       Responsible for updating and maintaining the Claims Module in Datix to systematically record an accurate and current record of progress against each claim, and ensure all relevant information connected with the claim is stored electronically.

Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)

·       This post holder will provide administrative support to the Head of Safer Care and Standards to support the weekly Patient Safety Incident Panel, including:

Ø  Preparation of the Panel agenda

Ø  Collation and distribution of initial fact find reports for patient safety incidents discussed at panel

Ø  Minute taking at the weekly virtual Panel meetings

Ø  Recording outcomes from case discussions at Panel on Datix

·       Provide administrative support to the Patient Safety Incident Investigators as required.

General Administrative Duties

·       On-going monitoring of the Serious Incident Inbox and actioning any e-mails received from Trust staff needing support regarding incidents or inquests and actioning matters for escalation to key leads as required

·       Monitoring of the Incidents module on Datix to undertake data quality checks, and review and approve incidents within the database on a regular basis, including Patient Safety Events reportable to the national Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service.

·       Provide general administrative support to the wider Safer Care Team as required.