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The agency may make contact with you to discuss your application before putting you forward to the shortlisting stage.
Longlisting is managed by the agency.
We’re seeking a senior solicitor or barrister to join on a permanent basis as Director of Legal Services / Legal Counsel to lead the Legal Services Team.
You will advise the organisation in all corporate affairs legal matters, including general healthcare, regulation and compliance. You will also provide advocacy in court where necessary, report to the Board, collaborate with the wider senior management team, and assist the development of the lawyers in your team.
To apply you will be:
• UK-qualified solicitor or barrister
• Significantly experienced working in the legal healthcare sector, including leading a team
• Looking for the opportunity to drive forward an already successful legal services team, and continually identifying areas to improve
• Able to commute to the office in Oxfordshire on a hybrid basis
This role is being offered on a full-time and permanent basis, with salary starting from £99,891 per annum.
For more information and to apply, please contact Louise Hull at LAW Absolute:lhull@lawabsolute.com/ direct dial: 0207 092 8029.
The GC leads, oversees and coordinates the Trust’s internal legal function consisting of the Trust’s Legal Services and Subject Access teams, and is has dotted line professional accountability for other Heads of Legal within the Trust. The GC has responsibility for ensuring that the Legal Services and Subject Access teams provide high quality advice, operate in a cohesive and mutually supportive way, and that legal advisers maintain their professional development requirements and develop necessary skills and abilities to enhance their value to the Trust.
The GC oversees the approach the Trust takes to sourcing internal and external legal advice, ensuring an appropriate balance and continuously reviewing the value for money and quality of the legal advice received. The GC will identify areas of risk where legal input is required, and develop and manage recommendations as to how best to resource this requirement.
The GC has the core ‘gatekeeper’ role of ensuring both the legality and integrity of decision-making at the Trust, and of compliance generally with all non-clinical legal requirements. The GC will be responsible for the formulation of long-term strategic plans to drive financial savings in the Trust’s legal costs. In particular, they will be expected to develop business plans and business cases with long term savings targets.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trustis one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.
The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
At OUH we are a flexible working accredited organisation, we recognise the demands and commitments individuals have outside of their working life. we support various methods of flexible working ranging from set working patterns to part time working or job share opportunities. We encourage our managers and our candidates to discuss what flexible working options available to you at OUH.
Please refer to the full job description and person specificatoin attached.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Base
John Radcliffe Hospital as the base but the role covers all sites
Grade
Band 9
Directorate
Assurance
Responsible to
Chief Assurance Officer
Accountable to
Chief Assurance Officer
Responsible for
Corporate Affairs Legal Services, corporate legal advice
Other
1. Job Summary
The role of Legal Counsel (LC) at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to advise and guide the Trust in all Corporate Affairs and Assurance department legal matters and to ensure that the Trust is legally compliant in its internal and external undertakings. This role is of particular importance in light of the current environment of uncertainty and change in which the Trust is operating, and the LC will advise the Trust on the implications of potential legislative changes and on other strategic and organisational developments where not already covered by other in-house legal advisors.
The LC leads, oversees and coordinates the Trust’s Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access teams, and works alongside other legal functions within the Trust. The LC has responsibility for ensuring that the Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access teams provide high quality advice, operate in a cohesive and mutually supportive way, and that legal advisers under line management maintain their professional development requirements and develop necessary skills and abilities to enhance their value to the Trust.
The LC oversees the approach the Trust takes to sourcing internal and external legal advice, ensuring an appropriate balance and continuously reviewing the value for money and quality of the legal advice received. The LC will identify areas of risk where Corporate Affairs legal input is required, and develop and manage recommendations as to how best to resource this requirement.
The LC has the core ‘gatekeeper’ role of ensuring both the legality and integrity of decision-making at the Trust, and of compliance generally with all non-clinical legal requirements. The LC will be responsible for the formulation of long-term strategic plans to drive financial savings in the Trust’s legal costs, working collaboratively with other in house legal advisors. In particular, they will be expected to develop business plans and business cases with long term savings targets.
The LC also contributes to the success of the Trust’s corporate strategy and consequential projects for patient benefit both now and into the future by participating proactively and creatively in relevant business activities. In doing so the LC will work alongside other legal teams within the Trust if needed. The LC will be responsible for the development of relevant corporate policies and procedures for the oversight of the Trust’s legal proceedings and for compliance with Law Society requirements.
The LC provides pragmatic and solutions-based legal advice to the Chair, Chief Executive and all other Board Directors, to Board and Executive Committees and to wider senior management teams and individuals as required.
In summary, the LC is an essential adviser to the organisation in:
• horizon scanning, identification and management of legal risk to (i) help empower Trust colleagues to act and transact within the parameters of legal compliance and (ii) reduce as far as possible the Trust’s necessary commitment to event remediation, including disputes and litigation.
• managing non-clinical legal
• adding business value through effective and efficient use of legal
2. Key Relationships
The key relationships for the LC will be as follows:
• Daily/frequent contact with the Chief Assurance Officer and Director of Corporate Affairs, and Director of Regulatory Compliance and Assurance.
• Regular contact with the Chief Executive and other Executive and Non-Executive Board members and with the wider senior management team.
3. Duties and Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities for the LC will be as follows:
• Review of Corporate Affairs legal advice sourced internally and externally by the Trust, identifying any gaps and overlaps, providing a quality assurance function and ensuring the Trust makes effective, efficient and economic use of legal services at all times.
• Providing personal support and counsel to the Chair, Chief Executive and all other Directors/executives/members of senior management as may be required.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant corporate and commercial law requirements, and those of national oversight bodies and regulators.
• Professional lead for all lawyers within Corporate Affairs; as required, lead, motivate and develop lawyers as may be specified.
• Bring together a forum of senior in house lawyers periodically to share best practice and agree any cross functional approaches.
• Accountable for ensuring the Legal Services function within Corporate Affairs, provide an effective service of advice and support in relation to medical litigation and personal injury claims, inquests, care proceedings and other related issues.
• Ensure that the Legal Services function within Corporate Affairs provides the skills, knowledge and expertise to commission appropriate external legal advice, within a specific financial envelope.
• Responsible for the oversight of the Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access teams budget and for the reduction of spend on external legal advice, with specific identified savings targets to be delivered.
• Improve legal governance and attendant decision-making against clear accountability.
• Responsible for the use and development of specific information systems used within the Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access team functions, for the development of reporting within the Corporate Affairs Legal Services team and externally to the wider Trust. These should be in line with Trust requirements and the needs of GIRFT and NHS Resolution.
• Develop the strategy to ensure improvements in the safety and wellbeing of patients are being addressed by ensuring effective learning from medico-legal claims.
• High quality reporting for the executive and Board on legal
• Collaborative and supportive working with all other assurance functions in developing reporting and oversight arrangements to enable successful delivery of corporate
• External representative and ambassador for the Trust, fostering good stakeholder relations at all levels including with the Trust’s many partners including those in the AHSC, AHP, ICS and others, specifically act as Trust legal advocate attending court, in person (where required), reacting to cross examination requiring intense concentration on a frequent basis.
• To act as a champion for patients and their interests, and to involve the governors, members, patients and the public in the Trust’s corporate activities whenever
• To promote an equal and diverse working
4. General Communications / wider working relationships• Provide Clinical Divisions and Corporate Departments with relevant information which is organised and presented in such a way that it facilitates and encourages reflection, celebrates success, and drives quality improvements in assessing impact measures appropriately.
• Maintain effective networking and good partnership relationships, sharing good practice and ensuring lessons learned in other Trusts are applied to within the Trust.
• Respond to new legislation, relevant to the role.
• Co-ordinate the approved Trust response to the formulation of relevant legislation.
• Develop excellent relationships with Board members.
1. Management• Accountable for strategic vision across the Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access team function, ensuring team members have the skills, knowledge and expertise to support the assurance of measures to deliver quality outcomes/Board requirements in clinical and non-clinical areas.
• Accountable for the leadership and management of employees across the Corporate Affairs Legal Services and Subject Access team function, within the Assurance Directorate; ensuring that innovative and forward-looking practices are developed to maximise the efficiency and productivity legal services at the Trust and appropriate line management arrangements are in place to facilitate effective operational management of all staffing issues.
• Promote a high performance and professional ethos within the teams.
• Ensure that staff in their remit are trained, supervised and appraised appropriately to equip them to carry out their work effectively and efficiently.
• Manage and ensure the production of all appropriate reports and forward plans to relevant regulatory bodies and ensure that they are available for public inspection.
2. Other• Ensure that Information Technology is:
• Exploited to streamline communications across the Trust.
• Used as an enabler to and supportive of service modernisation /redesign.
This advert closes on Monday 8 Apr 2024
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