Band 7 Complaints And Pals Manager

Royal Free London Nhs Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Complaints Officer to support the Divisional Triumvirate in managing PALS and complaints for the health unit. You will draft responses, ensure timely investigations, and provide regular performance reports on complaints handling across the unit.

The role requires strong leadership, excellent report writing, and the ability to work autonomously within the Trust's Complaints Framework and governance structure.

Qualifications

• Experience in complaints handling or patient experience roles.
• Ability to work autonomously and manage conflicting priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in a professional NHS setting.

Responsibilities

• Provide a complaints case management service for patients, public and staff.
• Deputise for Health Unit Patient Experience Lead when needed.
• Oversee PALs and complaints facilitators and administrators to ensure timely investigations.

Skills

Communication skills

Leadership

Report writing

Interpersonal skills

Data analysis

Confidentiality

Education

Undergraduate degree

Masters level qualification

Tools

Datix

Job description

Job summary

The post holder is expected to support the Divisional Triumvirate to manage PALS and complaints for the health unit independently and professionally, ensuring that issues raised by complainants are fully addressed and support staff involved in, or contributing to, the investigation of complaints. The post holder will be required to be able to exercise significant autonomy and discretion in managing complaints within time frames set out in the RFL Complaints Framework. Draft complaint responses and undertake quality assurance of draft complaint response letters prior to executive sign-off and produce regular reports on the health unit's performance with regards to complaints.

Main duties of the job

• Work as part of a team to provide a complaints case management service to patients, the public and staff.
• Deputise for the Health Unit Patient Experience Lead when required.
• Responsibility for managing the Complaints and PALs Facilitators and Patient Experience Administrators, ensuring that all PALs contacts are investigated and responded to within the timeframes.
• Manage the process to ensure the Divisional Triumvirate is supported to have PALs and complaints fully investigated and responses are appropriate to the needs of the patient and severity of the complaint in line with the new RFL complaints framework, Being Open and Duty of Candour.
• Support the clinical leadership to the investigations and draft responses for complaints received for the Royal Free Hospital's corporate services.
• Prepare professional and clinically accurate responses for the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Nursing's signature.

About us

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6 million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17 million tests.

Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top.

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Person Specification

Education and Professional Qualifications

Essential

• Undergraduate Degree or equivalent professional qualification
• Masters level qualification, or equivalent experience

Desirable

• Evidence of further professional and personal development
• Clinical Qualification

Skills and Aptitudes

Essential

• Computer literate with experience of Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel and excellent and accurate typing skills
• Robust organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload and meet tight timescales
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Ability to use own initiative and work with minimal supervision as part of a team
• Leadership skills and ability to motivate others
• Excellent abilities in concise and accurate report writing and presentation of information
• Excellent verbal & written communication skills
• Ability to deal confidently with staff at all levels of an organisation
• Well-developed interpersonal skills with the ability to work with a range of professionals
• Ability to make decisions and solve complex problems
• Ability to make decisions and solve complex problems
• The ability to maintain and respect confidentiality - Information Governance Issues of confidentiality (Data Protection, GDPR, Freedom of Information Act, Caldicott)
• Excellent abilities in concise and accurate report writing and presentation of information

Desirable

• Experience of Datix

Experience

Essential

• Relevant demonstrable experience of working in a complaint's role/environment
• Experience working in an environment with conflicting pressures and changing workload
• Experience of working within a team and of developing good working relationships with internal and external staff at all levels
• Experience working within the NHS
• Ability to collate and analyse statistical and qualitative information (E)
• Experience of change management initiatives
• Experience of managing staff

Desirable

• Demonstrates analytical and problem-solving skills
• Experience of working across multiple sites

Royal Free shared commitments

Essential

• Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust shared commitments.

Personal qualities and attributes

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent telephone manner with the ability to deal tactfully, sympathetically and efficiently with all enquiries
• Ability to represent the trust in a professional manner at all times
• Highly motivated and resourceful

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).