Patient Safety Investigator and Inquest Assistant
| Posting date: | 29 April 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £51,883.00 to £58,544.00 per year |
| Additional salary information: | £51883.00 - £58544.00 a year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 14 May 2025 |
| Location: | Kent, DA2 7WG |
| Company: | NHS Jobs |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | C9277-25-0514 |
Summary
Provide expert advice to all staff on matters related to patient safety incidents and investigations, ensuring compliance at all times with local and national guidance. Provide training to staff in undertaking patient safety incident investigations, and ensure that all those affected by an incident (patient, families and staff) are supported throughout the incident investigation process. As well as 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 patient safety incidents and other incidents, adjusting plans or strategies as necessary with the support and direction of the Patient Safety Incident Team Lead. Work autonomously as an investigator and in conjunction with colleagues, escalating any identified risks to the Patient Safety Incident Team Lead. Identify and review all sources of information in relation to patient safety incidents under investigation, ensuring that the most appropriate response is identified in line with PSIRF. Effectively interview a wide range of staff and service users about their involvement in patient safety incidents in difficult circumstances to establish the facts including interview reluctant witnesses. Provide highly specialist advice in relation to investigations and SEIPS to improve and influence the care and treatment of patients. Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information relating to patient safety incidents and other investigations and present this information to teams and groups as appropriate. Liaise with service users, carers, victims and their families following patient safety incident and throughout the investigation encouraging and supporting active engagement. Advising the Patient Safety 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 Patient Safety 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 Patient Safety 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 safety 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. Take non-complex referrals from the Coroners Office and complete the Coroners 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 unexpected deaths requested by HM Coroner and preparing a report for submission to HM Coroners 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 statements as necessary for submission to HM Coroner.