PALS assistantNHS

Job summary

Working within a busy Patient Advice and Liaison Service Team, you will support patients/carers and relatives to raise concerns, complaints and enquiries, ensuring that they are offered a satisfactory resolution as a result of the action taken. You will treat all patients, carers and relatives with empathy, compassion and consideration.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a high-class customer focused service to patients and visitors. The post holder fulfils the role of Patient Advice and Liaison Assistant, sign posting patients and visitors and ensuring that their immediate needs are addressed.
• Deal with complainants who telephone, write or visit the department.
• To assist/support the Patient Advice and Liaison Officer in taking, resolving and closing concerns.
• Implements the Trust's Complaints process.
• To assist/support the Patient Advice and Liaison Officer in providing weekly, monthly and quarterly reports from Datix.
• Work collaboratively and co-operatively with others to develop and facilitate the complaints process provided for complainants and their representatives.

Working as a Patient Advice and Liaison Assistant, you will be expected to uphold the Trust values and behaviours when dealing with patients and their families.

Job description

• Signpost patients/carers/relatives etc to relevant wards/departments and agencies who can facilitate their enquiry
• Deal with verbal concerns face to face and on the telephone with sensitivity, tact and empathy including customers who have barriers to communication, such as mental health problems, visual or hearing impairments, physical disabilities, or where English as a second language and grieving, bereaved patients and relatives.
• Deal with angry and /or abusive complainants on the telephone and face to face.
• Identify concerns provided by patients/carers/relatives etc establish their details and provide advice and support this process to resolve their concerns locally. Ensure follow-up call to ensure actions have been completed.
• Attend meetings when required.
• Responsible for data entry of all concern/complaints data onto the Datix Complaint System. Attention to detail is essential and ensuring all information is up to date and accurate.
• Assist the Patient Advice and Liaison Officer to provide a number of Datix reports on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis on theming concerns and complaints.
• Maintain the tracking system for the caseload of complaints ensuring that reminders are sent to managers are laid down in the Trust's Complaints Procedure.
• Provide support to the Complaints Coordinator in managing their caseload of formal written complaints, ensuring that they are dealt with in the timescales laid down in the Trust's complaints procedure.
• In conjunction with the Complaints Co-ordinators, analyse the complaints letters as soon as they are received, acknowledge receipt of the letter and identify and list all of the salient points. Forward complaint letters to appropriate managers, with a list of all of the points to be investigated.
• Support the Patient Advice and Liaison Officer and Complaints Coordinators in cooperating and negotiating with the local Independant Advocacy and Citizen Advice Bureau Services, Offices of Local Members of Parliament (MP's), the Health Service Ombudsman and other Health and Social Care providers.
• Provide advice and support to patients, relatives and staff regarding the NHS Complaints Procedure and in relation to the specific questions raised by complainants in their complaint.
• Act in a way which supports and protects patient confidentiality, treat all complainants with dignity and respect and ensure equal access to the NHS complaints procedure for all complaints. Support equality and diversity.
• Contribute to Trust-wide training events regarding complaints and customer care, including the Trust Welcome Event and the customer care course and local induction.
• Participate in development review and maintain a portfolio of learning development.

About us

NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.

We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.

For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.

We operate from five hospital sites:Aintree University Hospitalis the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility.Broadgreen Hospitalis home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation.Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospitalprovide specialist services incardiothoracic surgery,cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community.Liverpool Women's Hospitalspecialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. TheRoyal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.