Job Description
Job overviewThe role of Patient Advice and Liaison and Bereavement Officer is an interesting and varied role. The post holder will require excellent customer service, communication and organisational skills with the ability to manage a variety of task throughout the working day. The work involves dealing with people at an extremely difficult time in their lives and you must be able to complete the necessary tasks whilst acting in a caring and compassionate manner.
This is a challenging, but rewarding post, within the Patient Experience Team, focused on improving the experiences of people visiting our hospitals.You will be able to bring your skills to the team who work together in order to assist patients, relatives, carers with their enquiries and help resolve any problems or concerns they have.Please note that this vacancy may close early depending on the volume of applications.Main duties of the jobThe post holder will be required to provide a personal, visible and accessible Patient Advice and Liaison Service and play an active part in making contact with the Trust as easy as possible. To provide support to patients, carers and family members with their concerns, queries and requests for information about the NHS and aspects of care. To support Bereaved relatives, ensuring they are contacted and provided with information about the formal steps.
Offer support for anything they are concerned about or do not know. Arrange for viewings at the hospital. Liaise with external agencies to ensure the funeral arrangements for every deceased patient are carried out without delay.
Work within the Patient Experience Team and assist with the resolution of queries and concerns raised by patients, relatives and visitors. Working for our organisationCome and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.
In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4^th in the country for recommended place to work.We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are ‘Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care’.
Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn’t matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.As part of our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion we encourage all applicants to complete a short survey. This can be accessed via the link below:https://forms.office.com/e/ahWY3eAGM2We appreciate you completing the survey.Detailed job description and main responsibilitiesKey Result Areas:Patient Advice & Liaison ServiceProvide a personal, visible and accessible Patient Advice and Liaison Service and play an active part in making contact with the Trust as easy as possible, signposting patients, service users, relatives and/or carers.To have frontline direct contact with patients, either by telephone, email, correspondence or face to face.To support individual patients, carers and family members in order to resolve problems and concerns, offering a number of options and sources of information where possible, including other local and national support networks as necessary.To liaise with health, voluntary and statutory services on behalf of clients to help resolve problems and concerns.To listen to patients’ concerns, suggestions and experiences and raising these with the people who manage services.To help patients understand the NHS complaints procedure and how to make a complaint.To work within agreed protocols regarding confidentiality, consent and equal opportunities.Assist with ensuring patients have access to the Trust’s interpreting service in accordance with the Interpreting and Translation Guidelines.Participate in Safeguarding of Adults by ensuring the PALS Office continues to be a designated safe place.
Bereavement ServiceTo be responsible for ensuring that clear and accurate records are kept relating to each death within the hospital and to oversee the completion of all paperwork relating to these deaths.To be responsible for ensuring that relatives are given all relevant paperwork and are provided with information regarding formal requirements.To supervise the prompt and correct completion of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death in line with statutory legislation.To supervise the prompt and correct completion of cremation papers in line with statutory legislation.To maintain the Trust’s bereavement database.To act as a point of contact between medical staff and relatives, to liaise with the Chaplaincy, Risk Management Department, Medical Records Department, HM Coroner’s Office and Registrars of Births and Deaths.To liaise with Funeral Directors and Coroner’s Officers as required, to ensure procedures and arrangements towards the issue of death certificates are expedited.Accompany bereaved relatives to viewings in the mortuary viewing room.Patient PropertyTo be responsible for the collection of or the acceptance and safe keeping or safe disposal of property such as clothing, money and/or valuables to comply with the Trust Policy.Awareness of health and safety issues if property is contaminated (e.g.: blood, faeces, urine, vomit, lice) or contains sharps and ensuring that protective clothing (gloves and aprons) is worn. To have responsibility for the correct return to the patient or the next of kin or disposal of patient’s property in line with Trust Policy.To investigate the whereabouts of deceased patient’s property when there is a discrepancy between ward documentation and relatives’ recollections of patients’ property. Record information relating to lost property reported to the PALS Office on database.Equality and DiversityAct in a way that supports equality and value diversity.Encourage a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.Participate in Equality and Diversity Impact Assessments as appropriate.General AdministrationTo produce correspondence to a high standard, using a range of MS Office software products.To source and collate health related information and health information access points, ensuring the PALS / Bereavement service holds up to date information, which can be made accessible to clients.To maintain accurate records of PALS / Bereavement contacts, using the Datix system, and departmental databases.To provide activity reports by collating statistics held on the Datix system, or departmental databases.To develop and maintain effective and efficient office systems, including brought forward tasks.To arrange and attend meetings between clients and staff, taking notes where necessary and clarifying outcomes.Locate, obtain and track medical records using Lorenzo.To liaise with colleagues elsewhere in the NHS, from social services and from the independent and voluntary sectors as well as practitioners and patients’ representative.
Networking and liaisonTo build and maintain good working relationships with clinical and non-clinical staff and to work co-operatively with staff from other agencies.To have effective, respectful and sensitive communications skills.Person specificationQualificationsEssential criteria- Good standard of secondary education or equivalent- O level/GCSE standard or equivalent- Recognised typing and word processing qualifications- NVQ Level 3 qualification and equivalent experience to diploma level equivalentExperienceEssential criteria- Establishing & Maintaining Office systems & procedures- Dealing with confidential & sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy- Working under pressure within time constraints- Experience of working with health service users/carers & voluntary organisations- Experience of working in a PALS role or similar roleDesirable criteria- Working knowledge of Datix & Patient Administration System (Lorenzo)- Experience of working with bereaved families