Patient Experience Officer

NHS; Preston; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in Preston seeks a Patient Experience Officer to deliver high-quality service by managing complaints and corresponding with local MPs. Ideal candidates should have experience in health and care, particularly in complaint handling, and be educated to degree level or possess equivalent experience. The role requires strong communication and organizational skills, with assistance provided to ensure compliance with policies and procedures. This position offers a unique opportunity to positively influence patient experiences within the community.

Qualifications

• Experience of working in health and care.
• Experience of handling and responding to complaints.
• Experience of handling complaints within the NHS or social care.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality and professional patient experience service.
• Manage a caseload of complaints and MP correspondence.
• Ensure KPIs and deadlines are met.

Skills

Experience in health and care

Complaint handling

Interpersonal communication

Education

Degree in a relevant subject or equivalent experience

Job description

Go back NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (125)

Patient Experience Officer

The closing date is 17 December 2025

Three posts providing a Patient Experience service to patients, their families and unpaid carers across Lancashire and South Cumbria. These are maternity cover positions.

Main duties of the job

Handle a caseload of formal complaints, correspondence from our local Members of Parliament and contribute to our PALS service.

You will hold a caseload of complaint cases, MP correspondence and enquiries across our health and care services.

You will also help deal with incoming enquiries and concerns.

About us

The Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) Integrated Care Board (ICB) was established as a new statutory body on 1 July 2022, replacing the eight clinical commissioning groups across LSC.

Our role is to join up health and care services, improve people's health and wellbeing, and make sure everyone has equal access to services and gets a positive experience from treatment. We also oversee how money and resource is used to make sure health services are effective, consistent and of a high standard.

Our Patient Experience Team deal with complaints, correspondence from local MPs and Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) enquiries.

We are a patient focussed, busy and welcoming team. We have come together as a single, unified service offering a Patient Experience function to our local population.

Job responsibilities

1. Be part of a high-quality and effective Patient Experience service, working in accordance with legislation, policy, guidance, and best practice.

2. Provide a high quality and professional service, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of the role. Specifically, to work efficiently and fairly with all parties to complaints. This includes patients, complainants, their families, and representatives. Equally, it applies to people who have been complained about in all NHS settings.

3. Engage in projects and working groups to improve, develop and promote the Patient Experience Team.

4. Ensure that KPIs and deadlines are met, managing complaints through to resolution within nationally and locally defined timescales.

5. Organise your workload, using judgment to prioritise tasks. You will co-ordinate activities with other team members, balancing all aspects of the role, reviewing and changing priorities to achieve personal and team objectives.

6. Assess the risk of complaints and identify any which are potentially serious and take appropriate action to inform senior colleagues promptly.

7. Carry out or co-ordinate complaint investigations where required. Arrange and attend conciliation meetings as appropriate.

8. Work in a professional way with a range of services both internally and externally.

9. Communicate clearly using a range of mechanisms and use negotiating skills to achieve the desired outcome in situations which are often complex and sensitive, such as when undertaking complaint investigations or attending conciliation meetings. Includes maintaining tact and diplomacy when there are barriers to understanding, such as when dealing with people who are displaying challenging behaviour.

10. Work with the ICBs policies and procedures, including the Complaints Policy. Work in accordance with our approach to quality and performance with a focus on producing prompt and high-quality responses.

11. Identify and propose changes to policy and process which would support service improvements.

12. Assist in developing performance and quality reports for internal and external audiences.

13. Ensure appropriate use of all physical assets you are responsible for including computer equipment.

14. Demonstrate their future role to new staff and contribute to training about Patient Experience.

15. Work on your own initiative and operate autonomously.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working in health and care
• Experience of handling and responding to complaints
• Experience of handling and responding to complaints in the NHS or social care.
• Experience of handling and responding to complaints

Qualifications

• Educated to a degree level in a relevant subject, or equivalent level of experience.

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

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (125)