Lawyer in London

We are looking to recruit a Lawyer to join our Section 29 team within the Regulation and Accreditation Directorate. The team is responsible for reviewing final fitness to practise panel decisions of the 10 health and social care regulators we oversee, and where we decide that the decisions do not protect the public, we can bring an appeal to Court under Section 29 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002. We also share learning and feedback from our scrutiny of panel decisions with the regulators with the aim to help improve regulation and decision making, and these are taken into account by our Performance Review team in their regular assessments of a regulator’s performance.

Role involves:

• To review and analyse cases under the PSA’s section 29 process, making decisions on the PSA’s action. This includes assessing whether or not those Fitness to Practise Panel decisions are sufficient to protect the public, and if not, whether the case meets the legal threshold for an appeal under section 29 of the 2002 Act.
• To otherwise identify (and draft) learning points to be fed back to the regulators.
• Regularly acting as a Decision‑Maker on S29 case meetings in determining whether to refer a decision to Court, and on other decision‑making panels on behalf of the PSA.
• To provide support to junior staff, as required, including through quality assurance and training.

We currently operate a hybrid policy. In the first six months of employment full‑time staff working over five days will be expected to attend the office three days a week, after this the requirement is two days a week in the office. However, if you require any reasonable adjustments or wish to discuss the possibility of further flexible working please contact us directly to discuss. The PSA’s offices are currently located in Blackfriars, London.

About you

We are looking to recruit an individual who:

• Can produce detailed analyses of fitness to practise cases to make written recommendations as to whether those decisions meet the legal threshold for an appeal under section 29 of the 2002 National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act.
• Has high level written and oral communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly, providing advice to decision‑makers.
• Has strong analytical skills with an excellent attention to detail.
• Can work with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Has organisational and time management skills, including the ability to prioritise work and work to deadlines.
• Can demonstrate an understanding of fitness to practise legislation and processes of regulators of health and care professionals.
• Is positive and can work collaboratively and flexibly in a small team.

You will need a strong commitment to protecting patients and the public. You will also need to share our values of integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork.

About the Professional Standards Authority

We are the UK’s oversight body for the regulation of people working in health and social care. There are 10 organisations that regulate health professionals in the UK and social workers in England by law. We audit their performance and review their decisions on practitioners’ fitness to practise. We also accredit and set standards for organisations holding registers of health and care practitioners not regulated by law. We share good practice, knowledge and our right‑touch regulation expertise. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally, providing guidance to governments and stakeholders.

We are committed to promoting a fair and inclusive workplace where all our staff can flourish and reach their full potential. We know that a diverse workforce, at all levels, allows for a more creative and productive environment bringing different viewpoints, knowledge and experience. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from everyone irrespective of age, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

As a Disability Confident employer, we will guarantee an interview for people with disabilities who meet all the essential criteria and so if you would like to be considered under this scheme then please let us know.