PALS Officer

The post holder will be the first point of contact for the Trust's Patient Advice & Liaison Service, offering advice, information and resolution to patients and service users on their concerns and enquiries.

The PALS Officer will provide administrative support to the patient experience manager ensuring enquiries are recorded and dealt with appropriately.

The post holder will also be required to support the wider patient experience and engagement team tasks.

Main duties of the job

1. To receive, investigate and satisfactorily resolve patient and service user enquiries received via various communication channels such as email, phone, letter and face to face.
2. To provide an empathetic and responsive advice service to patients and service users.
3. To frequently communicate with patients and service users in person, on the telephone and via written communication.
4. To record and maintain PALS enquiries on the RADAR database system, escalating issues where necessary.
5. To work as part of a team, communicating with the formal complaints team and other teams within the Patient Quality team, ensuring a joined-up approach to improve the experience of patients and their families at the Trust.
6. To elevate enquiries to the patient experience manager when appropriate.
7. To be aware of the difference between PALS and formal complaints and escalat ed cases to colleagues when appropriate.
8. To assist with collecting organisation-wide patient.
9. To manage enquiries related to lost property and work closely with wards to resolve issues.

About us

at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community.

We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.

The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.

Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.

We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.

With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.

We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can for whoever you are.

Join us. What will you for?

Job responsibilities

Please see the full job description and person specification attached for more details on the job role.

Person Specification Education & Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs A -C or equivalent including English
• oA Levels / NVQ 3 in Customer Services or Business Administration / Level 3 Diploma or equivalent knowledge and experience
• Attendance on a 'dealing with difficult situations' or 'difficult conversations' course

Knowledge & Experience

• Knowledge of health and wellbeing issues and services acquired through experience
• Knowledge of PALS
• Knowledge of data protection
• Knowledge of administrative procedures including bespoke IT system
• Experience of dealing with patients or customers in a face to face environment
• Previous experience of working with people with a diverse range of needs
• Previous experience of training and assisting junior or new staff
• Excellent organisational skills
• Experience of dealing with patients or customers in a face to face environment
• Experience of dealing with highly distressed or emotional patients or customers
• Experience of defusing problematic situations
• Experience in using databases and reporting systems
• Understanding of simple statistics
• Experience of RADAR or other risk management systems
• Previous experience of a PALS or Complaints environment
• Good understanding of current issues facing the NHS

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to deal with distressing or emotional circumstances
• Ability to identify and support vulnerable groups
• Ability to cope with occasional unpleasant conditions such as verbal aggression and distress
• Ability to identify situations where a more senior member of the team should be involved
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office
• Plan and organise work load
• Good at prioritising
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Able to identify themes and trends in issues being highlighted through PALS
• Skilled in producing reports on relevant data

Personal Qualities

• Calm and diplomatic
• Sensitive in emotional situations
• Effective team worker
• Problem-solver
• Confident working with senior staff and clinicians

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.