Job summary
- Main area
- Administrative Services
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 196-COF10840-T
- Employer
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Guy's Hospital (off-site)
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £72,921 - £83,362 inc HCA
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 03/08/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 11/08/2025
Employer heading

Senior Healthcare Lawyer
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and talented healthcare lawyer to join our dynamic and busy in-house Clinical Legal Services team as the Senior Healthcare Lawyer leading the Trust’s Coroners’ Inquests team.
You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister registered in England & Wales, experienced in advising the NHS on the wide range of medico-legal issues that arise in a busy acute hospital environment. You will support and work closely with senior managers, clinical and administrative staff, and with key external stakeholders, including Coroners and Coroners’ Officers. Patient safety is core to every aspect of the job, which provides a great opportunity for a motivated individual to support improvements in the safety of care.
You will need highly developed communication skills so as to be able to influence and effect change internally and when representing the Trust and supporting clinical staff in Coroners’ Courts and other matters.
Main duties of the job
· Supporting the Head of Clinical Legal Services in the day to day management of the Trust’s portfolio of Coroners’ Inquests by leading and managing the Trust’s Inquest team, including the Inquest Manager and Paralegal Apprentice.
· Taking a leading role in relation to the Trust’s Inquests portfolio, including liaising with Coroners, attending pre-inquest review hearings and inquest hearings and undertaking advocacy where appropriate.
· To provide general advice to the Trust upon a variety of healthcare issues, often on an urgent/emergency basis, including the management of Court of Protection and Inherent Jurisdiction proceedings.
· Ensuring that the Trust’s staff are supported in relation to inquests and advisory matters, and to assist in the development and delivery of staff training on medico-legal topics as required.
Working for our organisation
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.
We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and – as part of King’s Health Partners – we are one of England’s eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research’s biomedical research centres, established with King’s College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities.
We strive to recruit and retain the best staff as the dedication and skills of our employees lie at the heart of our organisation and ensure that our services are of the highest quality, safe and focused on our patients.
Organisational Values:
The post holder will be:
Caring – we put patients first
Ambitious – we innovate and strive for excellence
Inclusive – we respect each other and work collaboratively
Our values and behaviours framework describes what it means for every one of us in the Trust to put our values into action. The framework can be found on our Trust jobs pages and our intranet.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see Job Description and Personal Specification for the specific requirements of the post attached.
Person specification
Qualifications/ Education
Essential criteria
- Bachelor’s degree and qualified solicitor/barrister admitted/called in England & Wales and registered with the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) / Bar Standards Board (BSB)
- Current SRA or BSB Practising Certificate (following completion of a training contract or pupillage).
- Extensive relevant PQE in Healthcare Law and Litigation, for or on behalf of the NHS and other healthcare organisations
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of the NHS and interrelated systems
- An in-depth understanding of NHS policy
- Master’s degree in Healthcare Law and Ethics
Professional/ Statutory Registration
Essential criteria
- Registration with SRA or BSB
Previous experience
Essential criteria
- Significant post-qualification experience of clinical negligence and personal injury claims, including complex/high-value claims; inquests, including contentious/multi-party cases; Court of Protection cases, including sensitive treatment cases; healthcare advisory matters.
- Experience of appearing in court and representing healthcare professionals or organisations in contentious matters.
- Significant experience of working with and developing solutions for complex problems involving internal and external stakeholders.
Skills/Knowledge/ Ability
Essential criteria
- Robust and specialised knowledge of law and practice as it applies in the NHS and healthcare sector.
- Specialist knowledge of the law and practice in relation to clinical negligence, personal injury, inquests, Court of Protection and healthcare law topics.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
- Knowledge of NHS specific provisions, structures and policies.
- Strong track record of defending clinical negligence claims, including at trial.
- Experience of negotiating external legal advisers’ and medical experts’ fees.
Analytical and judgmental skills
Essential criteria
- Highly developed analytical and problem solving skills; capable of interpreting and evaluating complex, multi-faceted information; ability to summarise complex information; ability to make judgements and advise on the best course of action.
- Ability to present complex information to a wide range of audiences, with differing levels of understanding, in a suitable format and with appropriate explanation.
- Ability to influence / persuade / motivate others and the ability to present reports / arguments effectively.
- Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
- Ability to identify risks, anticipate issues and create solutions.
- Strong advocacy skills, including the ability to elicit evidence in examination in chief and cross examination and make legal submissions
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Janet Placid
- Job title
- Directorate Office Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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