Complaints and PALS Co-ordinator

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting a Complaints and PALS Co-ordinator to join the established team at OUH. You will oversee the Divisional response to queries and complaints, prioritise workloads, and facilitate resolution meetings between complainants and clinicians.

The role requires excellent written and verbal communication, the ability to work under pressure, and a good understanding of NHS complaints processes.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent with considerable experience of NHS complaints.
• Excellent literacy and numeracy and attention to detail.
• Evidence of excellent writing ability - clarity, sensitivity and use of plain English
• IT literate: Word, Excel, Outlook, email, Internet and database management
• Previous experience of managing and influencing people
• Experience of writing reports at service level containing both narrative and data
• Knowledge of electronic complaints management systems for example Ulysses
• Understanding of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts
• RSA II minimum or equivalent
• Good understanding of medical terminology

Responsibilities

• To oversee and manage the Divisional response to queries and complaints
• To prioritise own work for action, delegate where appropriate and supervise responses.
• To ensure the efficient handling and resolution of enquiries from patients, families and visitors. To ensure excellent customer care and the implementation of the Trust's Values into Action throughout the complaint or PALS pathway liaising as necessary with colleagues, internal departments and external organisations.
• To supervise and provide reports on division specific areas of processing, recording and responses to complaints
• To review and edit draft responses for complaints
• To be responsible for ensuring the complaints and PALS database and files are accurate and up to date
• To undertake the administration and facilitation of patient resolution meetings.
• To assist with the administration associated with the complaints investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman
• To oversee the production of complaint and PALS feedback reports as requested by senior Trust managers to provide a qualitative analysis of the Trust's complaints and timely Divisional Feedback.

Skills

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Prioritisation under pressure

Customer service

Attention to detail

Education

Degree or equivalent with NHS complaints experience

RSA II minimum or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Database management

Ulysses

Job description

Complaints and PALS Co-ordinator

The closing date is 30 September 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Complaints and PALS Co-ordinator to join the existing well-established team at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

We are looking for someone who is personable and self-motivated with the ability to cope under the stresses and pressure that comes from dealing with complaints on a daily basis. The ability to work autonomously and as part of a team is essential. Resilience is key to this role.

You must be an excellent communicator, who remains calm and professional at all times. A proven track record of high level written and verbal communication skills is essential, as is the ability to prioritise and meet challenging deadlines.

You will be expected to facilitate resolution meetings between complainants and clinicians, ensuring these are conducted in an appropriate, supportive environment.

Well developed telephone skills and be able to extract and summarise the essence of a verbal complaint without preconceptions or judgement is required.

The role is demanding, therefore you must be able to prioritise and take responsibility for your workload. Confidence to liaise with people at all levels.

Previous experience of working in the NHS Complaints system or similar is welcome, but not essential, but a thorough understanding of the NHS Complaints process is expected.

You will need to demonstrate excellent experience of producing documents using Microsoft computer packages.

Main duties of the job

To oversee and manage the Divisional response to queries and complaints

To prioritise own work for action, delegate where appropriate and supervise responses.

To ensure the efficient handling and resolution of enquiries from patients, families and visitors. To ensure excellent customer care and the implementation of the Trust's Values into Action throughout the complaint or PALS pathway liaising as necessary with colleagues, internal departments and external organisations.

To supervise and provide reports on division specific areas of processing, recording and responses to complaints

To review and edit draft responses for complaints

To be responsible for ensuring the complaints and PALS database and files are accurate and up to date

To undertake the administration and facilitation of patient resolution meetings.

To assist with the administration associated with the complaints investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman

To oversee the production of complaint and PALS feedback reports as requested by senior Trust managers to provide a qualitative analysis of the Trust's complaints and timely Divisional Feedback.

About us

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. For more information on OUH please view OUH At a Glance by OUHospitals - Issuu

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.

We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.

These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

Job responsibilities

For a Detailed job description and main responsibilities please refer to the Job Description document attached.

Qualifications

• oDegree or equivalent with considerable experience of NHS complaints, advice or equivalent
• oExcellent standard of literacy and numeracy and attention to detail
• oEvidence of excellent writing ability - clarity, sensitivity and use of plain English
• oIT literate: Experienced in the use of Word, Excel, Outlook, email, Internet and database management
• oPrevious experience of managing and influencing people
• oExperience of writing reports at service level containing both narrative and data
• oKnowledge of electronic complaints management systems for example Ulysses
• oUnderstanding of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts
• oRSA II minimum or equivalent
• oGood understanding of medical terminology

Job related Aptitude / Skills

• Ability to assimilate information quickly, to assess a situation and resolve it appropriately and assist others to develop their skills
• Ability to communicate confidently with public and staff at all levels in both writing and verbally
• Ability to explain information to others according to their knowledge and understanding
• Able to prioritise competing deadlines and demands
• Demonstrated abilities to work well under pressure and adhere to tight deadlines
• Excellent interpersonal skills which demonstrate the Trust's values in action
• Excellent administrative, organisational, secretarial and computing skills
• Able to both make decisions independently and seek guidance where appropriate
• Methodical with attention to detail
• Able to concentrate on task despite frequent interruptions
• Excellent understanding of the Trust's Values and ability to demonstrate othese during the course of daily work
• Cope with the stresses of colleagues within the team and show respect towards others

Personal Disposition

• oConfident, efficient and professional in their approach to all work
• oAble to remain calm and professional in response to challenging behaviour
• oBe non-judgemental, tactful, diplomatic and at ease with people at all levels
• oDemonstrate ability to work unsupervised, using own initiative and as a member of the team
• oA willing, flexible and committed approach
• oSense of compassion
• oSense of humour
• oSmart, professional appearance at all times

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.

Employer name

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Depending on experienceper annum pro rata