Patient Experience Officer (PALS) | East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust; Rother; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in the UK seeks a PALS Officer as the first point of contact for service users and their families. Responsibilities include managing enquiries, providing support, and resolving concerns efficiently and professionally. Ideal candidates will have strong communication skills, empathy, and the ability to handle distressing situations calmly. Development opportunities and NHS benefits are included.

Benefits

Staff development opportunities

NHS pension scheme

Access to onsite nurseries

Free psychological support

Onsite parking

Qualifications

• Ability to handle enquiries calmly and professionally.
• Experience in supporting individuals in distress.
• Strong interpersonal skills to liaise with staff and the public.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for service users and their families.
• Handle and resolve enquiries efficiently.
• Develop relationships with clinical and non-clinical staff.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

Conflict resolution

Job description

The PALS Officer is the first point of contact for Service Users and their family and friends to raise queries and concerns about the care we provide, or when they need advice and don’t know where to turn and need signposting to other services or organisations.

On average, the PALS Department at ESHT deals with approximately 550-600 enquiries a month via face‑to‑face contact, telephone and email. The role is to ensure that these contacts are recorded correctly, escalated and monitored so that resolution can be achieved within the informal process, in a timely manner and in line with Trust Policies and Procedures.

Please note that this role is based at Conquest but travel to EDGH may be required. Training will be at EDGH.

Responsibilities

• Provide a PALS function that acts as the first port of call for the general public, patients under our care and their relatives and carers in a supportive, solution‑focused, calm, polite and professional manner.
• Handle telephone enquiries, queries and concerns from the general public, patients under our care and their families and carers in a calm, polite and professional manner and respond within agreed timescales.
• Meet with members of the general public, patients under our care and their families and carers face‑to‑face to provide support, guidance and wherever possible, deliver resolutions to a range of enquiries, queries and concerns in an efficient and confident way, showing empathy and concern at all times.
• Liaise with staff across the Trust at all levels in a professional manner to address and, wherever possible, resolve first‑line enquiries, queries and concerns with the best possible outcome in a timely manner.
• Develop and sustain good working relationships with clinical and non‑clinical staff within the Trust and in external partner organisations.
• Be confident in handling and resolving enquiries, queries and concerns from individuals who may be distressed or angry in a calm, polite and professional manner.
• Be flexible in working across the EDGH and CQ sites to work with either of the PALS offices.
• Work autonomously and as part of the PALS team maintaining the professional standards expected.

Benefits

• Staff development opportunities
• Enrolment in the NHS pension scheme
• Auto‑enrolment to the Temporary Workforce Service
• Access to onsite nurseries, staff restaurants and accommodation
• Access to free psychological support through a confidential Employee Assistance Programme
• Onsite parking available from only £50 a year

Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people.