Complaint and Patient Experience Officer

Northumbria Healthcare - NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Sunderland; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and pension scheme

Professional development and training

Supportive team environment

Flexible and hybrid working options

Salary sacrifice schemes

Job summary

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a motivated Complaints and Patient Experience Officer to join the Complaints and Patient Experience Team. This Band 6 role supports complex complaints handling and patient experience across services, with hybrid working across ICB locations and a focus on fairness, learning and quality improvement.

You will manage a varied caseload, liaise with patients and families, prepare clear responses, and contribute to improving patient experience and

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience in similar level

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of complex complaints and patient experience contacts from receipt through to resolution.
• Be a named contact for complainants, liaising with patients, families, carers, providers and colleagues to ensure issues are understood, investigated and responded to appropriately.
• Secure detailed provider responses, prepare high quality written correspondence, maintain accurate records on SIRMS, and ensure cases are progressed within agreed timescales.

Skills

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Organisational skills

Stakeholder management

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Job description

Complaint and Patient Experience Officer

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area Senior Complaints Officer Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Job share

37.5 hours per week Job ref 134-8294193

Site Pemberton House Town Sunderland Salary £39,959 - £48,117 Per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 22/09/2026 23:59

Are you passionate about health and social care and looking for a role that offers flexibility and growth? At North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, we value work-life balance and offer a range of flexible working options, including hybrid working. Enjoy a supportive team environment, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional development.

Flexible Working Options: We understand the importance of work-life balance and offer a range of flexible working options, including part-time and job share. We encourage applicants to discuss their preferred working patterns during the interview process.

Hybrid Working: This role offers the opportunity for hybrid working, allowing you to split your time between our ICB offices and home. We aim to provide a supportive and adaptable working environment that meets the needs of our staff, service delivery and the patients within our Region.

• Competitive salary and pension scheme
• Opportunities for professional development and training
• Supportive team environment
• Enhanced work-life balance through flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Employee Benefits – Salary Sacrifice Schemes such as Lease Cars, Home Electronics, Cycle to Work

Job overview

North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board is seeking a motivated, resilient and highly organised Complaints and Patient Experience Officer to join our Complaints and Patient Experience Team. This is a Band 6 role, working on a hybrid basis across ICB locations, supporting the effective management of complex complaints and patient experience contacts across the services we commission.

The ICB has a key role in ensuring high quality, safe and accessible health services for communities across the North East and North Cumbria. As part of this, the Complaints and Patient Experience Team helps ensure that concerns are managed sensitively, efficiently and in line with statutory requirements, while supporting learning and improvement across the system.

Please note this post is only accepting applications from current staff members of North of England Commissioning Support (NECS).

Main duties of the job

In this role, you will manage a caseload of complex complaints and patient experience contacts from receipt through to resolution. You will be a named contact for complainants, liaising with patients, families, carers, providers and colleagues to ensure issues are understood, investigated and responded to appropriately. You will secure detailed provider responses, prepare high quality written correspondence, maintain accurate records on SIRMS, and ensure cases are progressed within agreed timescales.

You will also support the Head of Complaints and Patient Experience with workflow management, case prioritisation, performance reporting and the identification of themes and trends. The role involves working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including NHS providers, clinical colleagues, contracting teams, advocacy organisations, Healthwatch and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman where required.

Working for our organisation

Our Integrated Care Board (ICB) is the largest in the country.

The ICB is responsible for ensuring that high quality and safe health services are accessible to all of our communities. It has a wide range of functions, including; promoting integration of health and care services, improving peoples health and well-being, reducing health inequalities.

With a £6.6 billion budget and a workforce of 170,000 people across the North East and North Cumbria. As well as strategic functions, ICB staff also work at place level with local health and wellbeing boards in each of our 14 local authority areas. These teams also work alongside our 67 primary care networks which are groups of local GP practices, social care teams and other community- based area providers.

The ICB works with our Provider Collaborative too, this includes the 11 NHS Foundation Trusts in the region, to deliver our shared priorities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are looking for someone with excellent communication, analytical and organisational skills, who can manage competing priorities and remain calm and professional in sensitive, emotive or challenging situations. You will need to be confident in handling complex information, maintaining confidentiality, escalating risk appropriately and producing clear, compassionate and accurate written responses.

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to improving patient experience and strengthening the way the ICB responds to concerns.

If you are committed to fairness, learning, quality improvement and excellent public service, we would welcome your application.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
• Further training or significant experience in project management, financial management or supporting change management processes

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of managing complaints and patient experiences in a healthcare environment
• Familiarity with the NHS complaints and patient experiences regulations
• Experience and understanding of evaluating and measuring the performance of health services
• Experience in communications and stakeholder management
• Comprehensive knowledge of project management and/or health information systems development
• Workforce development knowledge and experience
• Previous experience in similar role in public sector

The use of Artificial Intelligence: Whilst the ICB are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a riskto the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

UKVI Sponsorship: Please note that North East and North Cumbria ICB do nothold a UKVI sponsorship license. Therefore, we are unable to proceed with applications that require sponsorship.

Reasonable Adjustments: If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend interview please make the recruitment team aware as soon as possible by calling our HR Recruitment Team on 0191 203 1415 option 2.

Fit & Proper Person Regulations: Applicants who meet the Fit and Proper Person Requirements (FPPR) will require additional pre-employment checks in line with CQC and NHS England statutory guidance.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Name Lynda Hutchinson Job title Head of Complaints and Patient Experience Email address [e-mail]