About this role
Job summary
Are you ready to shape how mental health law directly improves patient care across a whole NHS Trust?
Can you bring clarity, confidence and leadership to complex, high-stakes legal and ethical decisions?
Do you thrive in environments where your expertise influences Board-level thinking and frontline practice alike?
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is seeking an exceptional and forward-thinking Head of Mental Health Law to join us in this pivotal Band 8C leadership role.
This is far more than a compliance role. As our Trust-wide strategic lead for mental health law, you will sit at the heart of decision-making, working alongside Executive leaders, clinicians and system partners to ensure care is not only safe and effective, but lawful, ethical and person-centred at every stage.
You will lead the development of a modern, high-performing Mental Health Law function, shaping how the Trust responds to evolving legislation, case law and regulatory expectations, while strengthening governance, assurance and consistency across services.
From supporting complex clinical decisions and tribunal processes, to influencing digital systems, workforce capability and organisational strategy, your impact will be tangible and far-reaching. You will play a critical role in ensuring patients understand and can exercise their rights, while empowering staff to deliver care with confidence within robust legal frameworks.
Main duties of the job
In this senior leadership role, you will:
Provide strategic leadership and direction for mental health law across the Trust, ensuring compliance with the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and wider legal frameworks
Lead and manage the Mental Health Law Department, developing a high-performing, responsive and expert service
Act as the Trust's principal advisor on complex legal, ethical and governance matters relating to patient care
Develop and implement Trust-wide strategy, policy and assurance frameworks, aligned to organisational priorities and Board assurance requirements
Oversee legal risk management, audit, performance metrics and reporting to ensure robust governance and continuous improvement
Lead on training and workforce capability, ensuring staff are confident and competent in applying mental health law in practice
Represent the Trust at regional and national forums, and build strong relationships with regulators, tribunals, and partner organisations
Support and influence Executive and senior clinical leaders, enabling informed, lawful and high-quality decision-making
You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, providing visible and credible leadership in complex, high-stakes situations, including tribunals, investigations and patient-facing matters.
About us
Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.
Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.
Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.
Job description Job responsibilities
The Head of Mental Health Law is the Trusts strategic lead for mental health law and is responsible for the leadership, development and delivery of a high-quality Mental Health Law service.
Key responsibilities include:
Leading the planning, development and implementation of Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and associated legal frameworks across the Trust Providing expert advice to clinicians, executives, patients and carers on complex legal matters Developing and maintaining policies, procedures and governance systems to ensure lawful practice Identifying and managing legal and organisational risk, including preparation for legal proceedings and tribunal activity Leading audit, quality improvement and performance monitoring programmes Managing departmental staff, resources and budget, ensuring delivery of an efficient and responsive service Supporting digital and system development, ensuring legal processes are embedded within electronic patient records Representing the Trust externally and contributing to wider system partnerships and professional forums If you are a credible, values-led leader with deep expertise in mental health law and a passion for improving outcomes, this is a rare opportunity to shape practice at scale and leave a lasting legacy.
Please refer to the full Job Description and Person Specification for further detail.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Educated to Masters level or equivalent in medico-legal subject Substantial training in mental health law matters
Experience Essential
Successful track record of managing or assisting to manage a mental health law department. Sound experience of developing systems demonstrated by the ability for creative thinking and problem solving.
Skills Essential
Ability to assimilate and understand the work of the Trust in relation to mental health law, including its policy, operational issues and challenges.
Knowledge Essential
Expert knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Capacity Act 2005, associated domestic and European legislation, relevant statutory guidance and case law.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust
Address County Hall
Norwich
NR1 2DH
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)