Job overview

Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week

The Legal Services Department is responsible for managing a range of legal matters on behalf of the Trust. These include inquests, clinical negligence and employee liability claims and Subject Access Requests. In addition, the Legal team provides advice to staff on any matter of a legal nature which relates to Trust business.
The Legal Services Assistant has specific delegated responsibilities in respect of Subject Access Requests (SARs) in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (2018).

Responsibility.
The Legal Assistant is primarily responsible for assisting with the processing of applications for access to health records, held at the Trust, received from solicitors, insurance companies, the police and other external agencies and will support the process for requests from patients or their relatives.

Alongside your role you will be enrolled onto the L3 Business administration Apprenticeship and achieve a recognised Level 3 qualification. We require full commitment of the apprenticeship programme, you will be supported and be given protected time in work to complete.

Accountability
The Legal assistant is accountable to the Head of Legal Services.
The list below is to outline the main duties involved however, this is subject to change and will vary within the given role. We ask all employees to be flexible in their role, to always ensure we are delivering Safe, Kind and Effective care.

Main duties of the job

To receive and process written requests for copies of health records including x-rays and computerised health records.
To identify the appropriate information to disclose by the use of the hospitals computerised medical records systems (Meditech, Evolve & Cerner) and other systems.
To process requests in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations, Data Protection Act, Access to Medical Records Act and Access to Medical Reports Act.
To ensure that accurate and appropriate information is provided and that timescales are met in compliance with the above Acts.
To communicate in written form or verbally, necessary information to patients, relatives and external agencies.
To provide an appropriate point of contact during the Subject Access Request process, ensuring that applicants are informed of the progress of their request and, where necessary, provided with the reason for any delays.
To undertake accurate photocopying and/or extraction of computerised records where appropriate, prioritising in liaison with team/supervisor.
To maintain an accurate database and electronic filing system of all requests claims in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.
To deal tactfully and sensitively with all enquiries whilst maintaining necessary standards of confidentiality.

Working for our organisation

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

•    The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.
•    Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
•    Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 5916 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 411,000. This includes 361,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.