Family Liaison Officer

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Nottinghamshire seeks a Family Liaison Officer to provide compassionate support to families following patient safety incidents. Responsibilities include guiding families, establishing communication plans, and ensuring their voices are represented in the safety response. Candidates should have strong communication skills, an understanding of NHS procedures, and the ability to work under pressure. The position offers a competitive salary of £38,682 to £46,580 per annum, with opportunities for personal and professional development.

Benefits

Employee-led staff networks

Health and wellbeing services

Qualifications

• Experience in public service such as healthcare or police.
• Ability to manage a caseload independently and handle complaints.
• Understanding of NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.

Responsibilities

• Provide support to patients and families during safety incidents.
• Establish communication plans for each case.
• Guide patients through the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.

Skills

Excellent communication skills with a focus on listening

Compassionate and able to deal with distressed individuals

Ability to prioritize conflicting requirements

Proven ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team

Self-confident and innovative

Tools

Excel

Word

Risk management database

Job description

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Family Liaison Officer

Closing date is 16 January 2026

This role is an exciting opportunity to be part of an established, compassionate and dynamic Family Liaison team. You will have the ability to build relationships with people following a patient safety incident, be compassionate and understanding, work with individuals who are distressed ensuring they feel heard and be calm under pressure.

You will work directly with patients and families to ensure they are supported to be involved in a learning response following a patient safety incident ensuring their voice and experience is accurately represented. You will ensure your communication is timely and your approach is individualised including signposting for appropriate external support.

You will also provide support, guidance and training to services ensure they engage with those affected by an incident adhering to the principles outlined in the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

You will have a solid understanding of PSIRF and Duty of Candour and how to apply this in practice. The post would suit someone who has an understanding of the NHS Patient Safety processes. An awareness of the NHS Complaints process would also be beneficial. You will need to maintain accurate records.

Main duties of the job

• Provide a point of contact for patients/families/carers involved in a learning response following a patient safety incident, guiding and supporting them through the process
• Create a professional relationship of trust and honesty to enable patients/families to ask questions and raise concerns to be answered to ensure their voice and experience is reflected
• Provide an individualised and appropriate level of support by telephone, home visit or any other electronic means
• Establish a clear communications plan and support for each individualised case, working closely with patients and families in the provision of ongoing support and information on available resources and support groups
• Provide clear and accurate information about the Trust's PSIRF processes
• To support the patient/family/carer with the receipt and interpretation of the draft and final learning response report
• To work closely with staff in the services and within the wider patient safety team to advise and support engagement following an incident and to deliver the Trust duty of candour
• To facilitate learning for staff, patients and families on the importance of compassionate engagement following a patient safety incident, being open and duty of candour

About us

#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.

We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.

We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

The health and wellbeing of colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.

The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.

Job responsibilities

The successful candidate will need to be highly motivated and able to manage a caseload of patients/families. You will prioritise competing demands and be resilient when dealing with distressing information and circumstances. You will have experience of working with people and be innovative and flexible in your approach and able to work on your own initiative. This role will involve travelling to see people in a variety of settings including their own homes and across all Trust sites over a wide geographical area.

Please note that this post does not meet the pay level required for a Skilled worker visa.

Successful applicants with no prior NHS experience would normally be placed at the bottom of the band in line with Agenda for Change. This salary is below the minimum salary required for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa. In these circumstances the Trust would not, therefore, be able to sponsor for a Skilled Worker / Health & Care visa.

Applicants requiring a Skilled Worker Visa can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship against the relevant criteria here https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

Please refer to the job description and person specification for more detail.

Person Specification

Physical requirements

• Has the ability to perform the full range of duties.
• As part of the role candidates will be involved in hearing, reading and processing distressing information and it is important to have emotional resilience to manage this and to engage in regular team and individual supervision sessions.
• Requirement for sitting in a restricted position for a considerable part of the working day.
• Requirement for travelling to other sites several times a week.

Experience

• Experience of work with the public within a public facing service such as health care, volunteer sector support, police.
• Proven ability to work independently to manage their own caseload.
• Experience of working with Incidents.
• Experience in the training of staff
• Experience of working with complaints

Knowledge

• Knowledge and understanding of NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and associated documents.
• Clear understanding of the bereavement process.
• Knowledge and understanding of Care Quality Commission - Regulation 20.
• Knowledge and understanding of NHS complaints management arrangements.
• Knowledge and understanding of the use of reporting via word and excel including graphs/database design etc.
• Expert knowledge of Root Cause Analysis Tools, Techniques and Methodologies for investigation of events and incidents.
• Knowledge of Coroners Act and procedures.
• Knowledge of the diversity of organisation and the service delivery.

Skills

• Excellent communication skills with a key focus on the ability to listen.
• Compassionate with the ability to deal with distressed and highly emotive patients/relatives.
• Ability to prioritise and manage a number of conflicting requirements in a professional manner and deal with a number of complex issues at the same time.
• Excellent diary management to ensure that all patients/families ones are allocated the necessary level of support.
• Excellent IT skills - excel, word and risk management database.
• Proven ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Self-confident, innovative and able to work on own initiative.
• Recognised project management skills.

Values and Behaviours

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation

Training

• Excel Course Intermediate Level or relevant experience of working with Excel at an intermediate level.
• Excel Course Advanced Level.

Contractual requirements

• Ability to travel across all Trust sites over a wide geographical area.
• A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post; however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

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

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

£38,682 to £46,580 a year per annum (pro rata for part time)