Patient Advice & Liaison Support (PALS) Officer -East

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board; Wrexham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

An established health organization is looking for a compassionate and motivated Patient Advice and Liaison Support (PALS) Officer. This role involves facilitating communication between patients, carers, and the health service, ensuring that their concerns are addressed promptly and effectively. The successful candidate will engage with various stakeholders, capture feedback, and help improve patient experience across North Wales. Join a supportive team that values diversity and offers a fulfilling career in the healthcare sector, where your contributions can make a real difference in the lives of many individuals.

Benefits

Family-friendly benefits

Work-life balance policies

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience is required.
• Experience in customer service and dealing with the public is essential.

Responsibilities

• Act as a point of contact for patients and provide accurate information.
• Capture patient and carer feedback in various clinical settings.

Skills

Problem-solving skills

Effective communication (verbal and written)

Good IT skills

Ability to work on own initiative

Experience in customer service

Education

Degree level education or equivalent experience

Tools

Social media

Job description

Band 5

Main area: Administration Services Grade Band 5

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 with 30 mins unpaid lunch break)

Job ref: 050-AC931-1224

Site: Wrexham Maelor Hospital

Town: Wrexham

Salary: £30,420 - £37,030 per annum

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 12/01/2025 23:59

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) North Wales is the largest health organisation in Wales, providing a full range of primary, community, mental health, acute, and elective hospital services for a population of around 700,000 across North Wales. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and welcome applicants under the “Disability Confident Employer” scheme.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh. Applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job overview

We are seeking to appoint 1 x Patient Advice and Liaison Support (PALS) Officer to support the service at Wrexham Maelor Hospital East Area and to provide support across the wider North Wales service. The role of a PALS Officer is to act as a facilitator in response to dealing with enquiries on a day-to-day basis; escalating feedback or concerns expressed by patients, carers, families, and members of the public and negotiating effective solutions or resolution of issues as speedily as possible.

The successful candidate will participate in the co-ordination and delivery of engagement and communication activities, as defined in the PALS job role. The post holder will attend primary, secondary, and community settings to engage with patients and carers to capture patient and carer feedback through various methods such as undertaking Care 2 Share observation interviews and capturing patient stories.

The PALS Officer will report to the Patient Experience Manager and will work closely with the Complaints team. You will need to be enthusiastic, motivated, sensitive, and tactful; educated to degree level (or equivalent experience) and have experience in dealing with patients/carers/members of the public in often difficult and challenging situations.

Main duties of the job

The main responsibilities of the post are:

• Act as a visible point of contact for patients, carers, relatives, and members of the public, providing accurate information and early resolutions to enquiries raised.
• Actively network and build relationships across the Health Board including Primary Care, collaborative organisations, and the third sector to secure engagement and assistance with resolving issues as they arise.
• Capture patient and carer feedback through various methods in a variety of clinical settings.

The post holder will:

• Deal with sensitive information in a professional manner ensuring all actions meet statutory requirements within the Putting Things Right Guidance and Data Protection legislation.
• Make measured, responsible, and professional decisions to ensure the most effective outcome is achieved for the enquirer at all times.
• Effectively manage and record all individual contacts with patients, carers, relatives, or members of the public.
• Build and maintain good relationships with management teams, clinical staff, and non-clinical staff across the health board.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.

Working for our organisation

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) North Wales is the largest health organisation in Wales, providing a full range of primary, community, mental health, acute, and elective hospital services for a population of around 700,000 across North Wales. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and welcome applicants under the “Disability Confident Employer” scheme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job Description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click “Apply now” to view in Trac.

Person specification

Experience

• Relevant experience of dealing with general public / patients / carers / health professionals on customer service issues.
• Experience of dealing with a variety of professionals and staff at different levels.
• Proven experience of working in customer services or related departments within a complex organisation.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification or experience.
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.

Skills

• Experience of establishing / using systems and processes to ensure effective recording, monitoring and evaluation of feedback. Problem-solving skills.
• Experience of effective communication (verbal and written).
• Ability to work on own initiative and manage own workload.
• Evidence of good IT skills, including presentations and use of social media / ECDL or equivalent.
• Evidence of handling distressing or sensitive situations.

Knowledge

• Good understanding of the legislation governing complaints and complaints management.
• Working knowledge of operating within a patient experience / engagement framework.
• Broad understanding of the NHS systems and processes.

Other

• Ability to travel within geographical area.

To work in the UK, all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship to obtain either a Health and Care visa or Skilled Worker visa, unless you have permission to work via another route.