Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
About
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
As a former winner of England for excellence award: Tourism destination of the year, the beautiful city of Gloucester and the scenic regency spa town of Cheltenham are fantastic places to work and live.
As a hospital Trust we are currently involved in over 100 clinical trials and studies, whilst also providing acute elective and specialist services to a population of over 620,000.
By joining Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust new colleagues can look forward to a warm welcome and a future full of opportunities and support.
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Key details
Location
SiteTrustwideTownGloucestershirePostcodeGL1 3NNMajor / Minor RegionGloucestershire
Contract type & working pattern
ContractPermanentHoursPart time - 30 hours per week
Salary
Salary£26,530 - £29,114 pa pro rataSalary periodYearly
Grade(Band 4)
Specialty
Main areaPatient Advice and Liaison ServiceInterview date28/01/2025
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
As a former winner of England for excellence award: Tourism destination of the year, the beautiful city of Gloucester and the scenic regency spa town of Cheltenham are fantastic places to work and live.
As a hospital Trust we are currently involved in over 100 clinical trials and studies, whilst also providing acute elective and specialist services to a population of over 620,000.
By joining Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust new colleagues can look forward to a warm welcome and a future full of opportunities and support.
Job Overview
Patient Advice and Liaison Service Advisor, Band 4 (30 hours a week)
Are you passionate about supporting our patients and carers to receive a positive patient experience? Then you may be interested in joining our dynamic, passionate, supportive and caring PALS team as a PALS Advisor. This is an exciting opportunity for the right individual to make a difference to the experiences of our patients, carers and visitors.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a large district general hospital located in the South West. Our Vision is to provide the best care for everyone in our community. As an organisation we are committed to providing Personalised care for our patients and carers in line with the NHS Long Term Plan. This role will be key in supporting the delivery of this ambition.
The post holder will be responsible for supporting the delivery of a high quality, personalised, Patient Advice and Liaison Service and will work with colleagues to respond to patient, carer and visitor concerns under the Public Health Service Ombudsman NHS Complaint Standards early resolution guidance.
The proposed interview date is 28th January
Advert
Reporting to the PALS Manager you will provide advice and support to NHS patients, their relatives and carers at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
As an interpersonal and administrative role, you will require excellent communication and problem solving skills to enable you to work to deliver an easily accessible service that listens, offers help, guidance and information to resolve concerns and enquiries as quickly and efficiently as possible. In addition, you will support staff to resolve issues relating to the experiences of patients, carers and visitors arising in real time.
You will be instrumental in helping to improve the experiences of our patients, carers and visitors.
Working for our organisation
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the largest employer in the county and with over 9,000 staff, we are one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK. We offer a generous annual leave allowance, excellent bank rates, access to the excellent NHS Pension Scheme, discounts for local shops, restaurants and services, access to our health and well-being hub, access to our two on-site nurseries, flexible working options, discounted public transport, excellent reward and recognition schemes.
The Patient Experience Team is a diverse, supportive team that promotes a safe environment to enable a culture of continuous improvement. The team is part of the Quality team and is committed to improving the experiences of those using our services and supporting our Trust to realise its vision to provide the Best Care for Everyone.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
As a PALS advisor you will be expected to:
Provide an easily accessible service to ensure raising concerns or enquiries is as easy as possible
Identify between concerns that can be resolved immediately and those that warrant further investigation
Listen, understand and acknowledge concerns and enquiries being raised
Gain consent as appropriate and maintain confidentiality standards
Analyse the problems being presented and plan the best approach to bring resolution
Work alongside staff to provide feedback and resolution
Communicate by letter, email, telephone or face to face in order to acknowledge or respond to any concerns and enquires raised
Use initiative, discretion and impartiality when communicating, in particular with cases of a sensitive or contentious nature. e.g., bereavement or safeguarding concerns
Visit wards or departments to ensure patients, relatives and carers feel supported
Maintain detailed and accurate records of concerns or enquires raised using the Trusts reporting system, Datix
Signpost patients, relatives and carers to other services both internal and external, such as advocacy services or charities.
Support the reporting of any themes, trends or risk areas which may impact on patient care or safety
Ensure there is accurate and accessible information and literature available about PALS and key partners
Work within recognised Trust policies and procedures
Actively promoting the work of PALS and upholding the values of the service while on-site and during corporate and external events
Develop PALS partnerships with specialist groups within the Trust to support specific groups of patients, such as Armed Forces Veterans
Hold responsibility for your nominated PALS Champions
Support and participate in quality improvement projects which improves the experiences of our patients, carers and visitors
Promote the work of the Patient Experience team
Undertake any other duties compatible with grade
The health and wellbeing of our staff and patients remains the priority of the Trust. Vaccination remains the best chance we have of conquering COVID and the Trust encourages everyone to take up this offer.
Please note, this vacancy may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested. The Recruitment Team are unable to accept any applications after the position has closed on NHS Jobs.
Committed to safeguarding our community
If applicable for the post, all successful candidates will be required to pay for their own Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The cost will be £29 (standard checks) or £46 (enhanced checks), and will be recovered through two instalments from the candidate's salary. Please contact [email protected] for further information.
[email protected]
Committed to supporting service personnel
[email protected]
Follow us on Twitter: @GHNHSFTCareers
Applicant requirements
info The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
Knowledge of health and wellbeing issues and services, acquired through training and experience to NVQ3 level or equivalent plus knowledge and experience to diploma level equivalent.
Evidence of recent appropriate years of sustained personal and professional development.
Experience
Essential criteria
Appropriate experience in customer care, mediation or in a patient-focused role
Appropriate experience in dealing with concerns and/or complaints with mixed complexity
Appropriate experience of dealing with complex and sensitive situations, with empathy and compassion
Appropriate experience of regularly using databases e.g. Datix, patient administration systems
Desirable criteria
Appropriate experience of office-based administration role or equivalent
Appropriate experience of working in the NHS
Knowledge/ Skills
Essential criteria
Excellent, demonstrable communication and interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate in a manner appropriate to the audience
Excellent attention to detail and accuracy in work
Excellent I.T. skills with broad experience using databases and all Microsoft Packages
Knowledge and understanding of the key principles of patient experience and PALS
Ability to prioritise and organise own work load with varying and unpredictable demands
Documents
Job Description and Person Specification (, 672.3)PDFKB
About Gloucestershire Hospitals (, 187.2)PDFKB
Further details / informal visits contact
NameSarah SharpJob titlePALS ManagerEmail address [email protected]Telephone number
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