Lawyer/Legal Reviewer

About the role

We are looking to recruit two Lawyers/Legal Reviewers to join our Section 29 team within the Regulation and Accreditation Directorate on a permanent basis. 

The team is responsible for reviewing final fitness to practise panel decisions of the 10 regulators we oversee. Section 29 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 provides the PSA with a discretion to refer these decisions to the relevant Court. Where we make a referral, the Court will decide whether to overturn the decision. Find out more about our section 29 work. 

What you will do

Key tasks and responsibilities of the role include:

• Conducting reviews of fitness to practise decisions to identify whether they may be insufficient for public protection, making written recommendations for consideration in relation to potential appeals.


• Acting as a decision maker for section 29 case meetings in considering whether the PSA. should bring an appeal of a fitness to practise decision under section 29 of the 2002 National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act.


• Working with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.


• Consider, collate and disseminate good practice and learning in relation to fitness to practise matters.


• Assisting with training provided to internal and external stakeholders.


• Assisting the Head of Legal and any external legal advisers in the management of cases and potential appeals under section 29 of the 2002 Act or judicial review proceedings. This includes holding and progressing a caseload through our process.


• Providing legal advice and conduct legal research.


• Working with other teams within the PSA to provide advice in respect of fitness to practise. 

About you

We are looking to recruit a qualified lawyer who has:

• An understanding of fitness to practise legislation and processes of regulators of health and care professionals.


• The ability to 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 Act


• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and someone who can communicate complex concepts clearly.


• The ability to manage relationships with external Counsel and solicitors to ensure our appeals work is conducted effectively. 


• The ability to work in a flexible, effective and collaborative manner in a small organisation and team.


• Strong analytical skills with excellent attention to detail.


• Excellent organisational and time management skills.

The ability to prioritise work and work to deadlines.

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.

We are a small and collaborative team and so we aim to meet in person once a month. 

About the Professional Standards Authority

The Professional Standards Authority is a strategic organisation with a key role in ensuring high standards of patient safety through excellence in regulation. We promote the health, safety and wellbeing of patients, service users and the public by raising standards of regulation and registration of people working in health and care. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament. We are a small organisation respected for its expertise. 

We help to protect the public by raising standards in the regulation and registration of the health and care workforce. 

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. 

We will not accept CVs or applications where CVs are attached in place of a personal statement. Please see the downloads at the bottom of this page for the job description and application form. 

If you have any questions, or would like reasonable adjustments to be made at any stage of the process, please do not hesitate to contact the HR team on 020 7389 8050 or email us at recruitment@professionalstandards.org.uk.

The closing date for applications is 2 February 2025 (11:59 pm).

Interviews (which will include a written test on the day of the interview) will be held in person during the week commencing 24 February 2025. Please note that it is unlikely that an alternative interview date could be offered should you be unable to attend at this time. 

Our privacy notice, which sets out how we will use your data, can be found here https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/privacy-policy