Head of Patient Experience
The closing date is 23 March 2026.
We are seeking an exceptional and experienced leader to take up the position of Head of Patient Experience, a new Group-wide role at Band 8c. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and lead a unified UHN Patient Experience service across both Northampton and Kettering sites, bringing together four core functions under one strategic portfolio:
* Complaints
* PALS & Bereavement
* Patient Experience & Engagement
* Chaplaincy
You will play a critical role in ensuring that our services reflect the voices, needs, and lived experiences of the patients, families, and communities we serve.
Main duties of the job
As Head of Patient Experience, you will oversee four dedicated service leads, each responsible for a key function across the Group:
* Complaints Service
* PALS & Bereavement
* Patient Experience & Engagement
* Chaplaincy
Key Responsibilities
* Provide strategic leadership and professional oversight for all aspects of Patient Experience across the UHN Group.
* Develop and deliver a unified Patient Experience Strategy, ensuring consistency and alignment with national standards.
* Lead transformation to reduce fragmentation and strengthen governance, reporting, and learning.
* Ensure robust, compassionate, and high quality complaints handling across UHN.
* Strengthen engagement structures including listening events, patient stories, and equity of access for under-represented groups.
What We're Looking For
* A highly experienced senior leader with a strong background in patient experience, quality, complaints, PALS, governance, clinical leadership or related fields.
* Demonstrable ability to lead multidisciplinary teams across complex organisations.
* Expertise in transforming systems and a deep understanding of NHS regulatory frameworks, complaint standards, PHSO principles, and national best practice.
About us
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group is made up of Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust and Kettering General NHS Foundation Trust. Both hospitals are currently separate hospitals/employers with a joint hospital board and leadership. We share a group executive team leading on a shared vision, mission, priorities, strategies and Dedicated to Excellence Values.
Our Excellence Values
* Compassion
* Accountability
* Respect
* Integrity
* Courage
We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone's full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.
The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.
We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners.
We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.
We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.
Job responsibilities
For full details and responsibilities of the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
Person Specification
Education, Training and Qualifications
* Educated to master's degree level or equivalent level of education, training, or experience
* Evidence of ongoing professional development.
Knowledge and Experience
* Proven track record of delivering governance objectives in line with organisational and quality strategy
* Understanding of and working experience of quality improvement methodology
* Experience of working closely with clinicians of carrying seniority
* Experience of briefing and interacting with senior leaders, including Trust Executives
* Experience of analysing problems and identifying solutions
* Clear understanding of developments in Complaints, PALS, Bereavement, Patient Experience, and engagement Governance, CQC Standards & Risk management standards
* Thorough understanding of the principles and practice of complaints / governance systems required outputs and their use to improve clinical quality and safety.
* Knowledge of using healthcare databases, healthcare systems and procedures
* Full understanding of NHS structure and processes including the NHS Complaints Procedure, commissioning, regulation and evolving governmental approaches
* Full understanding of the respective roles of the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, CQC and other governmental and non-governmental healthcare organisations
* Experience of working in the NHS or health Service
Skills
* High level literacy, reporting, and presentation skills
* Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work and communicate highly complex information with all levels of staff.
* Organised and systematic - ability to manage demanding work schedules, prioritise and complete tasks
* Ability to prioritise using a risk-based approach
* Ability to be assertive, tactful, and diplomatic
* Experience of presenting information to large audiences
* Ability to engage with a variety of stakeholders from within and beyond the organisation
* Ability to present information concisely and in clearly in an accessible format
* Ability to rapidly learn new information, adapt to a changing environment and make reasoned decisions
* Ability to understand and manage data (including a solid understanding of distribution, probability, relative risk, and confidence intervals)
* Excellent organisational skills, work to deadlines
* Demonstrable political judgement and an astute approach to handling diverse interests and complex relationships- clear about referring upwards where necessary
* Demonstrable credibility in influencing senior staff (clinical and non-clinical) and other organisations to fulfil organisational requirements
* Able to review and constructively develop plans delivered by executive director level staff (from a clinical governance perspective)
* Self-motivated and able to motivate and influence others.
* Proven leadership and management skills.
* Demonstrate the ability to assess and make decisions under pressure.
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.
Address
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire
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