Serious Incident Investigator and Inquest Assistant

Do you want to work for the best NHS organisation in the south of England?

We provide local NHS services in south London and Kent that take care of the whole person - body and mind. Oxleas is a great place to work.

In the National Staff Survey we had the best results in the south.

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated patient safety investigator, who will also assist with inquests, to join our Patient Safety Team to promote and drive forward the patient safety agenda across the Trust.

You will lead and contribute to Trust training on patient safety initiatives. In return you will have the opportunity to positively influence the care and services delivered across the Trust's service provision and improve patient and carer experience.

Applications are sought from professionals with experience in root cause analysis methodology and investigating patient safety incidents, who can demonstrate their experience and passion for supporting the patient safety and patient experience agenda.

The postholder will be responsible for managing all death in custody Inquests and reviewing all directorate serious incidents investigating prior to sign off by the Quality Board. The postholder, working with the Trust Risk Manager and Head of Patient Safety, will also be required to support Trust Solicitors in the provision of legal advice and emergency Court Applications as well as draft ban and warning notices to patients / visitors.

The postholder will liaise directly with clinicians and non-clinical staff across the Directorate to ensure staff and the Trust are protected against legal action.

The postholder will be expected to assist in ensuring that the Trust is compliant with applicable law, regulations and rules, including but not limited to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, and to assist in ensuring lessons are learnt from incidents and claims.

Externally, the postholder will liaise with the Police, Prisons, NHS Resolution, Counsel, Claimant Solicitors, Coroners and Coroner’s Officers.

Although the role is primarily responsible for deaths and serious incidents within our prison services, the postholder will be required to support other Inquests requiring Trust input across the full range of our services.

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care

Key Task and Responsibilities
- Management of death in custody Inquests. This will involve liaising with Coroner’s officers from point of request to Inquest conclusion and providing disclosure of records/statements; identifying the relevant records and clinicians and then liaising directly with the clinicians to ensure statements are provided within tight deadlines to avoid Schedule 5 Notices; attending Pre Inquest Review to limit involvement of the Trust; attending Inquests and conducting advocacy, protecting Trust clinicians and pressing for a favourable outcome for the Trust as far as possible.
- To draft ban and warn notices plus behaviour contracts to challenging patients and visitors in accordance with policy. This will involve liaising with incident reporters and ascertaining the full circumstances of the incident to decide most appropriate action; drafting notices in accordance with the instructions of the clinical teams; serving the notices and ensuring accurate records are maintained in the department and on RiO.
- To maintain continuous professional development. This will involve keeping updated through seminars and reviewing articles of developments and best practices in the clinical negligence, personal injury