Patient Experience Advisor | Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Overview

The post holder will work within the Patient Experience Team and will be responsible for contributing to the management of the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) as a member of the team. This involves providing an efficient and confidential day-to-day advice and co-ordination of responses to service users, carers, stakeholders and others who contact the Trust as well as managing and manning the PALS telephone and email systems. There will be daily interactions with patients and other members of the public via telephone and email which will require exceptional customer care skills and expertise. \”Should we receive a high number of applications we reserve the right to close this vacancy at any point after 8th September 2025\”

Work within the PALS team as a contact point for enquiries and complaints about the Trust. Ensure that all contacts and outcomes are recorded and learning points are recognised and shared. Be responsible for providing information and arranging investigations relating to complaints. Compile documents to support complaint investigation and draft letters from the investigators findings to respond to the complainant. Ensuring that the complaint has been answered that the language used to communicate the findings is appropriate for the audience and effectively communicates the findings. Provide support with reporting of patient experience information and data analysis of themes and trends relating to surveys and complaints. Ensure systems and processes are maintained that provide timely and high quality responses. Provide general project and administration support for the Patient Experience Team, including patient survey designs, inputting data/information and development of relating processes.

Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives. There’s one reason why our services are outstanding – and that’s our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey. If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Be a point of contact in the Trust’s PALS team to receive service users’ complaints.
• Use sensitive questioning techniques to obtain information, clarify understanding, identify needs and expectations, accurately record and communicate / escalate these appropriately to managers.
• Support and maintain systems to enable the acknowledgement and management of complaints, support the investigator/ managers and monitor progress to ensure timelines are met in line with the Trust policies.
• Take proactive steps to encourage and assist in local resolution of complaints by setting up and co-ordinating meetings for service users and their carers to meet with the services as part of the resolution process.
• Liaise and work with the Trust’s Resolution and Complaints Manager in logging formal complaints in order to meet the Trust’s required standards and timeframes as set out within the Trust Complaints Policy.
• Drafting of complaint plans and complaint response letters demonstrating communication skills and attention to detail. Provide complaint investigator training and support.
• Act as a source of information and ensure the role of PALS is widely promoted and both service users and staff know how to contact the service to gain support.
• Contribute and propose changes during the review, updating and drafting of policies and procedures relating to patient experience to ensure they meet patients and services.
• Organise, prioritise and manage own workload to meet deadlines and avoid diary conflicts.
• Contribute to the production of all Patient Experience and quality reports around patient experience information and data analysis of themes and trends relating to surveys and concerns.
• Provide general administration and project support for the Patient Experience Team, including covering the phones and designated email accounts.
• Lead on the updating of the Patient Experience information pages on the Trust’s staff intranet and the public facing website pages.
• Provide cover for other members of the Patient Experience Team during short periods of absence.

Communication

1. Receive calls from service users, their carers and representatives sensitively and confidentially, taking messages and liaising with service leads and managers to be able to assist in gaining answers or leading on gaining resolutions. Raise any serious concerns as a priority with safeguarding leads or senior managers as required.
2. Communicate effectively and appropriately with all internal departments at all levels and external organisations.
3. Contribute to the production and analysis of reports for the Board and Senior Management Team by recording complaints and PALS data on Trust Datix and IQVIA IT systems.
4. Build an awareness and knowledge of the other local NHS Trusts and stakeholders and be able to develop and implement methods of engagement and communication with these third parties verbally on the phone and in writing through emails.

People Management

1. Support Trust staff on the patient experience data bases (Datix/IQVIA) through demonstration and talking through procedures.
2. Maintaining own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and KSF process.

Clinical and Practice Governance

1. Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
2. Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regards to the Trust’s Information Governance and Information Security policies.
3. The post holder must adhere to the Trust’s risk assessment and risk management processes.
4. The post holder must adhere to the Trust’s Infection Control Policies and Procedures.
5. Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.
6. The post holder must participate in clinical and safeguarding audits as required.
7. Provide patients and their families/carers with information on standards they should expect from the team.
8. The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness processes for their team.

This advert closes on Monday 8 Sep 2025