South West London Integrated Care Board

Complaints & PALS Officer

This job is now closed

Job summary

A great opportunity has arisen to join the SWL ICB Patient Information Team.

The Patient Information Team is part of the Corporate Affairs department and supports the South West London ICB in delivering a high quality service covering Complaints, Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), enquiries for Members of Parliament (MPs), Freedom of Information Act requests and Data Subject Access requests.

We are looking for a candidate that will be a key member of the Patient Information Team who has experience of managing the case types referred to above at an ICB level. The successful candidate will be proactive, works on their own initiative and able to demonstrate an ability to communicate with a wide range of people in challenging circumstances.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide a public-facing service for all cases received by the ICB.

The post holder will act as a first point of contact in responding to incoming requests and need initiative and a proactive approach to be able to identify and access the relevant information required.

The post holder will be able to demonstrate an ability to communicate with a wide range of people and circumstances.

Other key aspects of this role will include good communication and Patient service skills, both verbal and written, efficient administrative skills, sound digital skills, maintaining databases and electronic files, an ability to manage own caseload and being a committed and flexible team member.

The post holder will need to be able to ensure that people are treated appropriately, professionally and with respect during the complaints process and that the ICBs values are visible in leadership behaviour.

About us

NHS South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB), as part of South West London Integrated Care System (ICS), is a partnership of organisations that come together to plan and deliver joined up health and care services to improve the lives of people in our six boroughs: Croydon, Merton, Kingston, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth.

Each ICS consists of two statutory elements:

an Integrated Care Board, bringing the NHS together with its partners locally to improve health and care services
an Integrated Care Partnership (ICP): the broad alliance of organisations and representatives concerned with improving the care, health and wellbeing of the population, jointly convened by the ICB and local authorities in the area.

ICBs are statutory NHS bodies responsible for planning and allocating resources to meet the four core purposes of integrated care systems (ICSs):

to improve outcomes in population health and healthcare;
tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access;
enhance productivity and value for money and;
help the NHS support broader social and economic development.

NHS South West London Integrated Care Board decides how the South West London NHS budget is spent and develops plans to improve people's health, deliver higher quality care, and better value for money.

Date posted

06 December 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£42,939 to £50,697 a year Per Annum inclusive of Outer HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

491-SWLPIT06

Job locations

Patient Information Team (930576) L4

120 The Broadway

London

SW19 1RH

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the Job Description for full details

Duties and Responsibilities

Although this is not an exhaustive list, the main deliverables of the role are:

Act as a first point of contact in responding to incoming requests and cases in relation to Freedom of Information requests, Subject Access requests, MP Enquiries, Complaints and PALS, primarily with a focus on PALS, Complaints and MP enquiries.

Provide confidential advice and support to patients, carers, and the public.

Monitor and respond to the various public/ patient facing in-boxes as required; responding to calls to the complaints helpline and being part of a rota for the ICBs switchboard number.

Resolve problems and concerns quickly providing support and guidance at the point of contact i.e., face-to-face, email and/or telephone.

Ensure that regular and effective proactive communication is maintained with those who contact the Complaints & PALS team, at all stages of the management of their case and in accordance with the complaints & PALS policy and procedure.

Take the lead on day-to-day complaints and PALS management, ensuring that cases are progressed in a timely and responsive manner, keeping patients and members of the public updated as needed.

Act as the first point of escalation for more complex or serious matters from other members of the team.

Working with all members of the team, ensure that SWL response to all complaints and PALS enquiries received are handled compassionately and professionally.

Working with other members of the team, you will help to ensure that all our verbal and written communications with patients and members of the public is of the highest standard, ensuring that we not only address the subject of the complaint or enquiry but that we do so empathetically and accurately.

Build and maintain good relationships with staff across the ICB in each Borough.

Maintain accurate documentation and records of feedback received and actions taken.

Analyse and act on this information to proactively manage and maintain ICB/NHS targets.

Develop and maintain systems and processes to establish effective communication and confidentiality of information.

Maintain systems and processes to continually monitor standards, e.g. identifying risks, benchmarking, audit, and supporting the implementation of action plans to improve patient experience.

Working with the Complaints and PALS managers, ensure required reports are produced in a timely manner to allow internal and external deadlines to be met.

Explain the NHS Complaints Procedure and how to access free, independent support from outside the NHS with making a complaint.

Deliver the service in accordance with the PALS National Standards and the ICBs complaints and PALS Policy and Procedure.

Prioritise workload ensuring that more serious or urgent cases are dealt with accordingly without jeopardising responsiveness to other cases.

Ensure that patients and carers views are reflected to the Complaints and PALS Senior Officer, so that they can be included in reports sent to key staff with responsibility for the implementation of service improvements.

Undertake an active role in developing and implementing mechanisms to ensure that lessons learnt from the experiences of patients and their relatives/carers from clinical areas are shared with relevant staff in the ICB.

Support the delivery of the Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests process as required.

Ensure compliance with all statutory and regulatory timeframes together with any internal KPIs for all cases managed.