Meet the member - Irene Hallett

What is your role and what are your responsibilities?

I work within the Central Legal Office, which is a division of NHS National Services Scotland. I manage the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS), which is a risk sharing scheme underwritten by Scottish Government. My responsibilities include notifying members of the value of costs that can recovered from CNORIS. I also provide advice and guidance to members, stakeholders and others in regard to indemnity provided by the Scheme. In addition to issuing regular reports to Scottish Government I also provide analysis of claims in response to Freedom of Information Requests.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I am an MS Excel nerd and love working with the data and preparing relevant analysis. I also love responding to the various enquiries and although many responses are by email, now and again they involve online discussions with individuals. It’s great to chat and this has allowed me to develop a wider network across the health and social care organisations of Scotland.  

What have been your biggest successes and achievements in your organisation?

I don’t know about big successes or achievements, but there have been lots of little wins, which has resulted in me being able to build excellent relations across the Indemnity Scheme membership. This includes introducing the current process to speed up the reimbursement of claims’ costs to members; improving the quality and accuracy of reports; and providing quick and clear guidance in response to enquiries.

What is the one piece of advice you would offer someone entering your profession?

I am relatively late coming to the risk profession, although risk was very much a topic of my previous roles in facilities and contract management. My one piece of advice to someone new entering this profession would be to enjoy doing a good job and look beyond the obvious.

What topics and trends are emerging?

The NHS in Scotland, like many public sector organisations are continually trying to manage increasing demands on their services, with reducing budgets. Therefore, identifying more effective and efficient ways of working is becoming increasingly critical.  

How does ALARM benefit you and/or your organisation?

Membership of ALARM allows me to network and learn from a wide range of individuals and organisations to better understand what is happening across the health and social care sector in Scotland, and beyond.

My organisation ultimately benefits by me being better informed as to best practices in the wider risk management sector.