Job summary
- Main area
- Legal
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Compressed hours
- Job ref
- 349-COR-6895357*
- Employer
- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- WTWA
- Town
- Wythenshawe
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/03/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Senior Legal Officer - Inquests
NHS AfC: Band 7
Job overview
Reporting to the Head of Legal (Advisory & Inquests) and Associate Head of Legal (Advisory & Inquests) and working under their own initiative at a senior level, the Senior Legal Officer will: -
- Be responsible for the management and provision of expert legal advice across all sites for the designated Speciality Team (Advisory & Inquests).
- Be responsible for ensuring staff across all services and sites are adequately advised and supported.
- Assist in the management of the to day to day running of the designated Speciality Team, including support of the Legal Admin Team and the Legal Administrative Team Leader.
- Jointly lead on the critical evaluation of the Trust’s policies and practice to interpret whether these provide assurance and promote the Trust’s patient safety and patient-centred values.
- Assist in preparing board reports and briefs on high profile matters.
- Jointly lead on triangulation and identification of relevant incidents, inquests, claims, advisory and complaints.Ìý
Be responsible for the instruction and management of out-sourced legal services; ensuring the efficient and effective management of all advice on a broad range of legal matters.
Main duties of the job
- Liaise with HM Coroner and his/her Officers to meet the requirements of the Coroner’s Court.
- Ensure the Trust is compliant with the requirements under the Coroner’s and Justice Act 2009 and the Coroners Rules 2013.
- Provide expert advice and support on procedures for inquests.
- Ensure statements are requested and received in a timely fashion. Provide expert review of witness statements, ensuring all witness statements are quality checked prior to disclosure.
- Support and adequately prepare staff for the role of witness before, throughout and after the inquest.
- Obtain statements and any other information which the Coroner requires.
- Arrange and manage de-brief sessions for staff, during and following inquests, as required.
- Provide expert ongoing analysis of the case to ensure appropriate representation is in place for the hearing, including applications to the NHSR for funding where appropriate.
- Support on ensuring the communications team are aware of any potential media interest relating to an inquest
Working for our organisation
MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We’re creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.Ìý
Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 28,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you’ll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.Ìý
We’ve also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.Ìý
We’re proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What’s more, we’re excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.Ìý
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At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the ‘Supporting Documents’ heading. Ìý So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the ‘Candidate Essentials Guide’ that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. ÌýThis document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how ‘we care for you as you care for others’. ÌýMost importantly, it also contains critical information you’ll need to be aware of before you submit an application form. Ìý
Diversity Matters
MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. ÌýAs an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. ÌýIf you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at [email protected].Ìý
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
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Person specification
Essential
Essential criteria
- • Education to Degree level or equivalent plus further management experience or training to post graduate diploma level or equivalent
- • Expert understanding of the legal policy, and inspection framework
- • Extensive experience of litigation/inquests in the NHS
- • Ability to organise and prioritise workload
- Advocacy skills
Applicant requirements
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Amrita Singh
- Job title
- Associate Head of Legal - Advisory & Inquests
- Email address
- [email protected]
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