Court of Protection Lead Practitioner | NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
| Posting date: | 28 March 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £43,742 - £50,056 per annum |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 27 April 2024 |
| Location: | Derby/Staffordshire/Leiceter, ST4 4LX |
| Company: | Midlands and Lancashire CSU |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 6192810/877-CSU-6156178-A |
Summary
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU), Personalised Healthcare Commissioning (PHC) are looking to appoint a Band 7 Court of Protection Lead Practitioner to join our existing friendly team.
This role sits within the commissioning functions of IPA where health funding is in place, supporting patients in receipt of NHS funding including Continuing Healthcare (CHC), joint and complex care funding.
The role will be responsive to ICB priorities and expectations, whilst working on their behalf and representing them at Court and with all court applications. This will need to be balanced with understanding of best interest principles and provide an objective and considered representation to all parties including patients and their representatives.
This is a specialised and complex area of work which provides practitioners with an extremely varied and interesting case load. There is an expectation for any practitioner to be able to work autonomously but with the confidence that there will always be support available from the wider team and the Clinical Lead. Every case provides opportunities for learning and development and supports with your development as a practitioner.
If you are a confident practitioner with experience of working with the realms of MCA, who is organised and efficient, can work to tight deadlines whilst managing extremely complex information and constantly working to promote the patient's best interests, we would love to hear from you.
The postholder will lead on Court of Protection (CoP) cases across the responsible ICB areas and support the CSU compliance with The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivations of Liberty (DoL).
The post will involve being responsible for all CoP cases on behalf of the ICB, this will include both cases within court proceeding such as Section 21a challenges and coordination and completion of Community Deprivation of Liberty Cases where the ICB is funding the care. There would be an expectation that the practitioner provides support and guidance to the wider CSU service in relation to the MCA and associated legislation, ensuring that all practice carried out is complying with MCA.
NHS Midlands and Lancashire is one of the biggest and best-performing commissioning support units in the country, with among the highest levels of staff and customer satisfaction. We work together as a team of over 1,600 expert staff based across the Midlands and North West to make a difference – for our customers, patients and communities.
Offering a full range of professional services to hospital trusts, local authorities, integrated care systems (ICSs) and other public bodies across the country, our NHS values underpin everything we do.
In return, we provide a supportive environment in which to learn and develop, with the opportunity to further your skills / career within an exciting & evolving environment. Joining team comes with a range of benefits including flexible & agile working arrangements, pension scheme and generous annual leave allowance.
With our training schemes / support networks, you will be empowered to play a leading role in the future of healthcare. As a member of NHS staff you will receive plenty of discounts too.
MLCSU is committed to our process of redeployment at risk members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.
Professional
• Provide clinical leadership and expertise to clinical staff who manage clinical commissioning services for patients that fall under Continuing Healthcare (CHC), joint funding and complex care funding
• Act in accordance with the NMC or Professional body/regulator providing leadership, motivation, and support to staff of all disciplines ensuring compliance with statutory, mandatory local policy and guidance requirements, and professional standards
• Be required to undertake high level of communication with clinical leads, legal teams, court professionals, senior external colleagues to support the progression of Court applications whilst also providing support to patients and their representatives to improve their experience
• Be expected to engage with patients and public in a meaningful way in relation to COP and MCA, to champion patient and public engagement and support the ICB expectations and priorities to embed legislation and best practice
Operational
• Responsible to proactively manage any potential COP cases to include leading best interest meetings and supporting CSU staff in decision making
• Develop and deliver training to colleagues in relation to MCA/DOLS and COP in line with current case law and legislation and bespoke need for the clinical area
• Provide leadership to colleagues in relation to MCA and welfare matters, to provide supervision and specialist advice and guidance to ensure up to date and best practice within the IPA service
• To attend Court hearings where needed representing the CSU and ICB and follow through the Court process including the completion of statements and reports
• Support clinical staff in relation to complex MCA or COP matters and preventively work on cases to reduce the need to apply to COP, where appropriate
• Clear understanding of the various COP applications and ability to coordinate and manage a case from start to completion
• Provide and receive highly complex or sensitive information at times where there may be significant barriers to acceptance, for example when presenting an opposing position to Court to that of the patient or their representative
• To manage Court applications in a manner that is cost effective by making judgements when cases would need legal instruction and where work can be done at an operational and or practical level to avoid excessive legal fees and costs to the ICB
Quality
• Manage COP applications and MCA matters with equity and consistency
• Ensure knowledge and practice is up to date with current case law and legislation change to inform best practice and deliver up to date and relevant leadership and advice
• Respond to priority matters within short timescales whilst delivering the same quality and equitable service
• Work with other senior managers and nurses to gather quantitative and qualitative clinical information by MLCSU to inform development of new or revised service-delivery models and to establish benchmarks for quality
Commercial
• Liaison with colleagues and senior managers within the PHC function to ensure the service can identify, adapt and respond to developing opportunities of business growth
• Instil a culture of customer-service and continuous improvement across the PHC service ensuring all team members understand and deliver their role with ongoing success
• To maintain the reputational standard of the CSU and ICB’s whilst representing them in legal matters, including attendance at Court hearings
Safeguarding
• To have close partnerships with ICB Safeguarding Leads with a responsibility to oversee and manage MCA and welfare matters within their locality
Job responsibilities
You will:
• Be responsible for your own workload.
• Be responsible to manage your own time and ensure Court deadlines are met.
• Provide leadership, advice and guidance to IPA services in relation to MCA and best practice.
• To attend Court hearings where needed representing the CSU and ICB and follow through the Court process including the completion of statements and reports.
• Support clinical staff in relation to complex MCA or COP matters and preventively work on cases to reduce the need to apply to COP, where appropriate
• Develop a clear understanding of the various COP applications and ability to coordinate and manage a case from start to completion
• Provide and receive highly complex or sensitive information at times where there may be significant barriers to acceptance, for example when presenting an opposing position to Court to that of the patient or their representative.
• To manage Court applications in a manner that is cost effective by making judgements when cases would need legal instruction and where work can be done at an operational and or practical level to avoid excessive legal fees and costs to the ICB
• Work collaboratively with CHC colleagues, Local Authority and Third Sector organisations to produce comprehensive statements for Court.
• Manage COP applications and MCA matters with equity and consistency.
• Ensure knowledge and practice is up to date with current case law and legislation change to inform best practice and deliver up to date and relevant leadership and advice.
• Respond to priority matters within short timescales whilst delivering the same quality and equitable service.
• Ensure the confidentiality and security of all information is dealt with in the course of performing your duties in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations and adhere to the principles of Caldicott.
• Be aware that the CSU operates a “Code of Conduct for handling personal identifiable information”. Become familiar with the “Code” and keep up to date with any changes that are made.
The following five criteria are the essential criteria for the role. These will be used for shortlisting, so it is important that you answer these questions fully in your application form to give yourself the best chance of being selected for interview.
Qualifications
• Qualified Nurse, Social Worker, or another Allied Health Professional
Experience
• Experience and knowledge of MCA and DoL, confident ability to be the decision maker in best interests (or to identify who the decision maker would be)
• Experience of managing complex caseload and ensuring deadlines are met.
Skills
• Completing and Leading Mental capacity assessments and Best Interest Meetings.
• Excellent communication skills
This document has a number of criteria that we would ideally want in a candidate. We know that you might not meet all the criteria for the role but please don’t let that stop you from applying. We understand that you may bring other skills and experience to this role that we might not have thought of.
This advert closes on Monday 1 Apr 2024