Job summary
We are seeking to recruit a Complaints and Patient Advice and Liaison (PALS) Coordinator to join our team. The successful applicant will be the first point of contact for patients, their families, carers and members of the public.
You will possess excellent listening and interpersonal skills including the ability to effectively manage relationships internally and externally, demonstrate empathy, impartiality and tact when dealing with calls from patients or their representatives relating to health service concerns.
The successful applicant must also be able to recognise the needs of patients, their families and carers and be able to communicate complex, sensitive information with tact, diplomacy and understanding.
You must have good listening skills, and be aware of the need for discretion and high levels of confidentiality. The role also demands organisational and time management skills, and the ability to manage competing priorities against deadlines.
The post holder will continue to build on our learning and improvement in all aspects of complaints handling and provide a patient advice and liaison service. As a first point of contact for the team you will advise staff and the public as appropriate on complaints resolution process, signposting and making judgments to ensure appropriate outcomes.
Higher level interpersonal skills are crucial for this role as well as the ability to communicate clearly and succinctly both verbally and in writing
Main duties of the job
The PALS & Complaints Co-ordinator provides a visible and effective service by ensuring patients, their families, carers and representatives, visitors and the public have access to and receive high quality and timely information and signposting about the Trust, related health and social care services, and their own personal information.
The post holder is an essential point of contact in working closely with front line staff to receive, manage and respond to formal and informal enquiries and complaints in line with Trust policy and procedure and NHS Complaints Regulations.
This role provides the main interface with complainants, some of whom may be challenging. It is vital the post holder is a good listener and effective team player and will need to be able to communicate information effectively to patients and their carers or families, members of the public, staff and volunteers and provide support to them as required. A professional, caring and respectful manner must be demonstrated at all times.
The Post holder will need to be able to prepare and assist in the provision of data for reports .
Post holders may come into contact with patients, their carers / family, with advocates and with staff who may express a range of emotions including distress or anger as a result of an incident, breach of confidentiality or alleged failing in care. The ability to act with diplomacy, empathy and professionalism is expected at all time
About us
RNOH Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (RNOH) is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK and a global leader in our field. We provide a dynamic working environment where we support frontline staff to implement improvements so that we can realise our vision of being a world leading neuro-musculoskeletal hospital providing the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS, delivering world leading research, and offering a strong foundation of education, training and career progression. Our dedicated staff come from diverse backgrounds, and our patients benefit from the wide range of experience they bring to the trust. RNOH brings unrivalled expertise together in one place allowing us to deliver some of the world's most complex and innovative care to our patients. RNOH is rated good by the CQC and covers two sites, one in central London and one in Stanmore - which has recently opened The Stanmore Building, a new, state-of-the-art inpatient facility. For more information, please access the following link: https://www.rnoh.nhs.uk/
Home :Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust aims to be a world-leading orthopaedic hospital with the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Complaints
Provide compassionate and impartial support for patients or families who wish to make a formal complaint. This may include documentation of a verbal complaint or assistance in writing a formal complaint letter.
Responsible for managing and responding to complaints and enquiries, and ensuring that they are handled in a timely and appropriate manner.
Communicate verbally and in writing with complainants to discuss the management of their complaint and offer information on the process that will be followed
Recognise and escalate concerns or risks appropriate to senior staff or the Safeguarding team as appropriate
Assist in the provision of data and reports in relation to complaints trends
Ensure that complainants are kept informed at all stages of the progress of their complaint including when changes or delays occur within the agreed timescale
Liaise with all levels of staff across the organisation to ensure that complaints are handled speedily and effectively
Contribute to learning lessons events so that local actions can be implemented across the Trust
Support the KO41 process, ensuring that all required information is in place
Communication
To communicate with staff, service users, carers and members of the public regarding the NHS Complaints Procedure and Trusts Complaints Procedure using a range of media.
To communicate complex, sensitive and what may sometimes be contentious information regarding complaints. On occasion this will entail conveying information in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere, or overcoming barriers to understanding and acceptance.
To present information to large groups, including presentation at staff meetings.
To ensure that telephone and written enquiries are dealt with efficiently and appropriately and ensure that confidentiality is maintained in accordance with relevant legislation and Trust policies and procedures.
PALS Service
Acting as a point of contact for patients, their carers or families, visitors or members of the public raising queries or concerns on the phone, via email or in person. This may include attending the ward to discuss issues with inpatients and their families.
Providing impartial and compassionate support for those involved in the PALS process.
Build and maintain good relationships with clinical and non-clinical staff across the Trust to help resolve patients concerns quickly and efficiently, negotiate solutions on their behalf and ensure they receive practical advice and support in a sensitive, appropriate and effective way
Ensuring that concerns are escalated to relevant staff within the hospital if they cannot be resolved within set timescales
Manage a caseload of individual concerns from initial contact to liaising with unit managers who are responsible for providing the response. This will include administrative logging on Ulysses identify the key issues to be addressed and the reviewing of response to ensure they cover all aspects of the concern raised.
Maintaining accurate and detailed records of concerns and queries raised by patients and their families and the outcome of local resolution.
Identify and produce reports of themes highlighted through PALS and Complaints indicating any subsequent changes in practice for inclusion in departmental/quality reports.
Exercise high levels of concentration given the unpredictable nature of the work. The post holder must be able to prioritise and manage the competing demands of their workload
Provide non-clinical advice to patients/service users or carers and be responsible for escalating a concern or complaint where patient safety appears to be at risk.
Friends & Family Test
Prepare Friends and Family data for the monthly Quality report to ensure the trust is aware of reported patient experience.
Legal Services
Assist the Patient Experience Lead in providing information as requested to the Trust solicitors.
Recording the claims on Ulysses
Attending inquests if and when required on a support basis.
Improving Patient Experience
Provide information and data to staff who wish to measure the impact of their quality improvement projects on patient experience
Use your knowledge of patient concerns to identify possible patient experience improvement projects
Participate actively in identified projects to improve patient experience including helping to develop patient stories
Provide training for other staff in the Trust in providing high quality patient experience
Provide administrative support for identified Trust wide patient experience projects
Work collaboratively with all members of the Quality Team and other members of the Trust.
The role is based at the Stanmore site but the post holder may be required to attend the Bolsover street site on occasion.
This role is office based.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Complaints
Provide compassionate and impartial support for patients or families who wish to make a formal complaint. This may include documentation of a verbal complaint or assistance in writing a formal complaint letter.
Responsible for managing and responding to complaints and enquiries, and ensuring that they are handled in a timely and appropriate manner.
Communicate verbally and in writing with complainants to discuss the management of their complaint and offer information on the process that will be followed
Recognise and escalate concerns or risks appropriate to senior staff or the Safeguarding team as appropriate
Assist in the provision of data and reports in relation to complaints trends
Ensure that complainants are kept informed at all stages of the progress of their complaint including when changes or delays occur within the agreed timescale
Liaise with all levels of staff across the organisation to ensure that complaints are handled speedily and effectively
Contribute to learning lessons events so that local actions can be implemented across the Trust
Support the KO41 process, ensuring that all required information is in place
Communication
To communicate with staff, service users, carers and members of the public regarding the NHS Complaints Procedure and Trusts Complaints Procedure using a range of media.
To communicate complex, sensitive and what may sometimes be contentious information regarding complaints. On occasion this will entail conveying information in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere, or overcoming barriers to understanding and acceptance.
To present information to large groups, including presentation at staff meetings.
To ensure that telephone and written enquiries are dealt with efficiently and appropriately and ensure that confidentiality is maintained in accordance with relevant legislation and Trust policies and procedures.
PALS Service
Acting as a point of contact for patients, their carers or families, visitors or members of the public raising queries or concerns on the phone, via email or in person. This may include attending the ward to discuss issues with inpatients and their families.
Providing impartial and compassionate support for those involved in the PALS process.
Build and maintain good relationships with clinical and non-clinical staff across the Trust to help resolve patients concerns quickly and efficiently, negotiate solutions on their behalf and ensure they receive practical advice and support in a sensitive, appropriate and effective way
Ensuring that concerns are escalated to relevant staff within the hospital if they cannot be resolved within set timescales
Manage a caseload of individual concerns from initial contact to liaising with unit managers who are responsible for providing the response. This will include administrative logging on Ulysses identify the key issues to be addressed and the reviewing of response to ensure they cover all aspects of the concern raised.
Maintaining accurate and detailed records of concerns and queries raised by patients and their families and the outcome of local resolution.
Identify and produce reports of themes highlighted through PALS and Complaints indicating any subsequent changes in practice for inclusion in departmental/quality reports.
Exercise high levels of concentration given the unpredictable nature of the work. The post holder must be able to prioritise and manage the competing demands of their workload
Provide non-clinical advice to patients/service users or carers and be responsible for escalating a concern or complaint where patient safety appears to be at risk.
Friends & Family Test
Prepare Friends and Family data for the monthly Quality report to ensure the trust is aware of reported patient experience.
Legal Services
Assist the Patient Experience Lead in providing information as requested to the Trust solicitors.
Recording the claims on Ulysses
Attending inquests if and when required on a support basis.
Improving Patient Experience
Provide information and data to staff who wish to measure the impact of their quality improvement projects on patient experience
Use your knowledge of patient concerns to identify possible patient experience improvement projects
Participate actively in identified projects to improve patient experience including helping to develop patient stories
Provide training for other staff in the Trust in providing high quality patient experience
Provide administrative support for identified Trust wide patient experience projects
Work collaboratively with all members of the Quality Team and other members of the Trust.
The role is based at the Stanmore site but the post holder may be required to attend the Bolsover street site on occasion.
This role is office based.
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- A minimum of two years' relevant experience of working in a frontline customer-facing role. Good knowledge and experience in a customer services environment of 2 years relevant experience in a healthcare setting
- Strong administration skills in a client/customer services environment.
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
- Customer services/complaints handling administration
- Ability to analyse information and make decisions within appropriate procedural and policy framework.
Desirable
- Good knowledge and experience of legislation, developments and precedent in one or more of the areas of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.
- Experience of case management information systems.
- Experience of working within the public sector.
- Routinely reviews targets/goals and takes appropriate action to ensure results are achieved
Desirable
Essential
- Effectively balances competing priorities
- Manages time economically and efficiently
- Uses plain language and avoids jargon. Is articulate and communicates promptly and clearly
Desirable
- Promotes and projects a positive image of the organisation
- Delivers on time and to the agreed level of quality
Desirable
Essential
- Weighs up evidence to reach supportable conclusions.
- Demonstrates a clear and logical approach to analysing problems
Desirable
- Shows the ability to understand and interpret complex data.
- Listens actively and checks for clarification and mutual understanding
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- A minimum of two years' relevant experience of working in a frontline customer-facing role. Good knowledge and experience in a customer services environment of 2 years relevant experience in a healthcare setting
- Strong administration skills in a client/customer services environment.
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
- Customer services/complaints handling administration
- Ability to analyse information and make decisions within appropriate procedural and policy framework.
Desirable
- Good knowledge and experience of legislation, developments and precedent in one or more of the areas of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.
- Experience of case management information systems.
- Experience of working within the public sector.
- Routinely reviews targets/goals and takes appropriate action to ensure results are achieved
Desirable
Essential
- Effectively balances competing priorities
- Manages time economically and efficiently
- Uses plain language and avoids jargon. Is articulate and communicates promptly and clearly
Desirable
- Promotes and projects a positive image of the organisation
- Delivers on time and to the agreed level of quality
Desirable
Essential
- Weighs up evidence to reach supportable conclusions.
- Demonstrates a clear and logical approach to analysing problems
Desirable
- Shows the ability to understand and interpret complex data.
- Listens actively and checks for clarification and mutual understanding
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
