Complaints Investigating Lead

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Development opportunities

Employee assistance programme

Discounted gym membership

Onsite fitness classes

Car schemes

Job summary

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Complaints Investigating Lead to steer the organisation’s response to formal complaints with a patient-focused approach. The role requires senior leadership, oversight of investigations, and ensuring learning translates into service improvements.

The post holder will champion compassionate, person-centred practices, manage a caseload, and work with divisions to ensure timely, high-quality investigations and governance

Qualifications

• Experience leading staff or a specialist function with workload allocation and quality oversight.
• Experience managing a concurrent personal caseload while overseeing a wider team portfolio.
• Knowledge of NHS complaints legislation and standards, including CQC Regulation 16.
• Experience in an acute NHS Trust or other regulated organisation.
• Experience with Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman or cross-organisational complaints.
• Experience in service redesign, audit and implementation of new operating models.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day operational leadership for the complaints investigation function with clear workload allocations and standards.
• Oversee the complete investigation portfolio and the Complaints Management System, monitor risk and capacity.
• Lead an allocated caseload from planning through to closure and reporting.
• Provide supervision, coaching and constructive challenge to Band 7 colleagues.
• Quality assure investigation plans, evidence, findings and final responses for accuracy and empathy.
• Maintain compassionate and transparent communication with complainants, ensuring accessibility and reasonable adjustments.

Skills

Leadership

Complaint handling

Analytical thinking

Quality assurance

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree holder

Investigations/quality training

Continued professional development in leadership

Investigation governance training

Leadership coaching/supervision qualification

Job description

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Complaints Investigating Lead

The closing date is 23 November 2026

Are you an experienced and compassionate leader with a passion for patient advocacy, high-quality complaint handling and service improvement? We are seeking a dynamic Complaints Investigation Lead to join our wider Patient Experience and Insight team, providing visible leadership and professional oversight of the organisation's response to formal complaints. As a senior leader the post holder will lead and support the Complaints Investigators, championing a consistently compassionate and person-centred approach and ensuring that the voice of service users drives learning, positive change and service transformation across the Trust.

The post holder will work collaboratively with Divisions and senior leaders to oversee the delivery of timely, compassionate and transparent complaint investigations, providing expert advice, constructive challenge and quality assurance while ensuring that learning is identified and translated into sustainable improvement. They will lead on compliance with national complaints requirements and standards set by the Care Quality Commission and other relevant regulators, monitor quality and performance, and support the development of effective systems, processes and professional practice. Acting as the Trust's expert resource for complaint investigation and reporting, the post holder will provide senior leadership, build capability across the organisation and support delivery of the Trust's wider complaints and patient experience agenda

Main duties of the job

• Provide day-to-day operational leadership for the corporate complaint's investigation function, translating priorities into clear workload allocations, milestones and standards for the Band 7 Complaints Investigating Officers.
• Maintain oversight of the complete investigation portfolio (including effective administration of the digital Complaints Management System), reviewing caseload, complexity, risk, timeliness, dependencies and capacity; intervene early and escalated barriers or emerging risks to the Head of Patient Experience and Insight.
• Personally lead an allocated caseload of formal complaints from clarification and planning through evidence appraisal, findings, response drafting, action planning and closure.
• Provide structured supervision, case consultation, coaching and constructive challenge to Band 7 colleagues, supporting sound judgement, professional boundaries, resilience and consistent application of fair investigation practice.
• Quality assures investigation plans, evidence records, findings, draft responses, remedies and action plans, ensuring each concern is addressed and that outputs are accurate, empathetic, accessible and ready for the appropriate approval pathway.
• Maintain compassionate and transparent communication with complainants and representatives, particularly where cases are complex, delayed, escalated or require senior intervention, ensuring reasonable adjustments and communication needs are met.

About us

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

In return we will offer:

• Development opportunities, both professional and leadership development
• On-going support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes

Key Facts:

• We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day.
• We are the 4th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England - an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day - 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.

UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff

Job responsibilities

UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI-generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words.

Important visa information: Due to UK Home Office immigration rule changes effective from 22 July 2025, applicants sponsored under Occupation Code 6131 (Nursing Auxiliaries and Assistants) may not be eligible to bring dependants under the Skilled Worker route if their Certificate of Sponsorship is issued on or after this date. Applicants are responsible for understanding how these rules apply to their individual circumstances. The Trust cannot provide immigration advice. Further information is available on the Skilled Worker visa: Your partner and children - GOV.UK

Your application (for shortlisting purposes) is assessed based on the Person Specification in the job advert (below).

Closing date of applications: 23 November 2026

Interview date: 07 December 2026

Person Specification

Experience and Knowledge

• Experience of operationally leading staff or a specialist function, including workload allocation, supervision, performance oversight and quality assurance.
• Experience of managing a concurrent personal caseload while maintaining oversight of a wider team portfolio
• Experience of providing assurance and presenting complex quality, risk or performance information to senior leaders or governance forums
• Detailed knowledge of NHS complaints legislation and standards, including CQC Regulation 16 and the NHS Complaint Standards
• Experience within an acute NHS Trust or another complex regulated organisation
• Experience of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, multi-agency or cross-organisational complaints
• Experience of service redesign, audit, evaluation and implementation of a new operating model

Qualifictaions

• Educated to Degree level or able to demonstrate equivalent specialist knowledge and experience gained through relevant professional practice
• Relevant training in complaints handling, investigation methodology, governance, quality or a related discipline
• Evidence of continuing professional development in leadership, complex investigation, report writing and quality assurance
• Formal qualification or accredited training in investigation, complaints handling, mediation, quality improvement, project management or leadership
• Management, coaching, facilitation or supervision qualification

Skills

• Developed analytical and judgement skills, including evaluation of complex and conflicting evidence and formulation of balanced, defensible conclusions
• Excellent report-writing, editing and quality-assurance skills, producing accurate, empathetic and accessible correspondence
• Ability to lead operational delivery, allocate and reprioritise work, manage risk and maintain oversight within an unpredictable workload
• Ability to coach, supervise, influence, challenge and negotiate constructively at all levels
• Ability to analyse complaint themes, trends and performance information and develop effective dashboards or reports
• Facilitation, presentation and training-delivery skills. Working knowledge of quality improvement methodology

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

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust