Inquests Assistant and Serious Incident Investigator Dartford, England
Job description
The Post Holder will support with managing inquests and serious incident investigations that occur within the Trust.
Further information relating to the main duties, key responsibilities and requirements for this role are set out further below and in the attached Job Description and Person Specification documentation.
The postholder will be expected to be competent in assisting/leading on the investigation of expected and unexpected deaths requested by HM Coroner. The postholder will support staff involved in coronial investigations and inquests and assist in the preparation of witness statements and medical reports for submission to HM Coroner.
The Post Holder will coordinate the investigation panels, provide chronologies, attend all panel meetings and chair where required, write all serious incident reports and review reports with panel members and support quality checking of all reports prior to circulation as well as supporting the serious incident team with collation of information for different reports required internally and externally.
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
Provide expert advice to all staff on matters related to Serious Incidents and Investigations, ensuring compliance at all times with local and national guidance.
Provide training to staff in undertaking serious incident investigations, check that directorates have appointed a senior clinician to take on the role of family liaison officer and preparing staff for attendance at inquest and attending inquests.
Ensure compliance with all statutory reporting requirements at all times.
Plan, organise and conduct investigations into serious incidents and other incidents, adjusting plans or strategies as necessary with the support and direction of the Serious Incident Team Lead.
Work autonomously as an investigator and in conjunction with colleagues, escalating any identified risks to the Serious Incident Team Lead.
Identify and review all sources of information in relation to incidents under investigation and use analytical skills to identify the care and service deliver problems. The information may include paper and electronic records, witness statements, liaising with stakeholders, service users and their families and carers.
Conduct team reviews and ensure this provides an opportunity for the team to contribute to the findings of the final report. Team reviews will be conducted in line with the ‘Being Open’ principles.
Effectively interview a wide range of staff and service users about their involvement in serious incidents in difficult circumstances to establish the facts including interview reluctant witnesses.
Provide highly specialist advice in relation to investigations to improve and influence the care and treatment of patients.
Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information relating to serious incidents and other investigations and present this information to teams and groups as appropriate.
Liaise with service users, carers, victims and their families following a serious incident and throughout the investigation encouraging and supporting active engagement.
Advising the Serious Incident Team Lead on the quality, suitability and effectiveness of completed investigation reports.
Present complex, unwelcome and sometimes distressing information to a range of internal and external stakeholders including service users and their families, victims and their families, senior clinicians and front line professionals.
Critically evaluate and analyse complex, diverse and sometime contradictory evidence from a wide range of sources.
Together with the Serious Incident Team Lead, make recommendations as to whether people involved in incidents need to be dealt with through other processes using the principles of the “Just Culture” – e.g. disciplinary investigations, police investigations, professional bodies and to exclude them where appropriate from the Serious Incident Investigation process.
Monitor the progress of investigations and implementation of recommendations, providing exception reporting to the Head of Patient Experience and Patient Safety.
Produce, develop and present highly complex quality reports and analysis on incidents to the Trust Board, associated committees and for internal and external reporting requirements as required, with identified learning and thematic analysis.
Review action plans to identify trends and themes and identify relevant actions to ensure learning is embedded into practice.
Undertake audits, assurance visits and debriefs to discuss learning with teams and to review how actions are taken forward and embedded within relevant teams and across wider organisation.
Participate in the development of an effective team and the development of productive working relationships throughout the Trust.
Remain impartial and objective at all times.
Advise, encourage and share knowledge utilising the latest research and practice development, through literature and peer reviews.
Apply the principles and practice of blame free incident investigation across a diverse range of clinical services and recognise when specialist expert opinion is required.
Contribute to the development and improvement of systems and processes for investigations and lead on allocated improvement projects.
Inquest management
Take referrals from the Coroner’s Office and complete the Coroner’s investigation/inquest process as required.
Carry out a review of medical records to identify the relevant staff to contribute to the coronial request.
Be competent in assisting/leading on the investigation of expected and unexpected deaths requested by HM Coroner and preparing a report for submission to HM Coroner’s office.
Be responsible for identifying and implementing a system for the recording and dissemination of learning following inquests.
Support staff involved in coronial investigations and inquests and assist in the preparation of witness statements and medical reports for submission to HM Coroner.
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.
