Band 5
Main area
Women's & Children
Grade
Band 5
Contract
6 months (6 month fixed term post)
Hours
Full time hours per week (Mon - Fri either 8am - 4pm or 9am - 5pm.)
Job ref
SC-RL
Site
Epsom Hospital
Town
Epsom
Salary
£35,763 - £43,466 Pa incl HCAS Outer pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
03/03/2026 23:59
At Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, above all we value respect. We put respect at the heart of all we do, by living up to our shared behaviours of kindness, professionalism, positivity and teamwork. This enables us to provide great patient care and make ESTH a great place to work. When you sign up to work with us, you sign up to this and we welcome applicants who share our values.
Job overview
The Complaints Officer plays an integral role in delivering a high-quality frontline patient experience by listening to, managing and learning from patient feedback to drive service improvement across Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The post holder will coordinate and administer complaints, concerns, compliments and PALS enquiries, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, Trust policy and statutory timescales. They will provide a responsive Patient Advice and Liaison Service, supporting patients, families and external organisations through timely resolution, information and signposting.
Main duties of the job
The role is central to supporting the patient experience improvement agenda, working with Divisions, service areas and wards to identify learning, co-design solutions and support quality improvement. The post holder will coordinate and produce patient experience intelligence and reporting, including complaints and PALS activity, themes, trends and learning, providing regular reports, trackers and dashboards to support governance, assurance and senior leadership oversight.
The post holder will also support patient experience initiatives within clinical areas, including the coordination of goodwill gestures and gifts for children and babies, in line with Trust policy and available resources.
Working for our organisation
St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey. Our sites include St George's Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).
After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.
At gesh we are committed to supporting flexible working arrangements. Applicants are encouraged to discuss any flexibility they may need during the recruitment process.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached supporting document which contains more information about the role
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Person specification
Education and qualifications
Essential criteria
* Educated to diploma/ degree level or equivalent experience
Skills and abilities
Essential criteria
* Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and listening skills.
* Excellent interpersonal and networking skills
* Ability to work autonomously with the skills to make independent decisions.
* Good organiser with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage own workload to defined deadlines.
* Highly developed IT skills working across a range of Microsoft Office packages and databases (including Outlook and Excel) Empathy, ability to deal with distressed patients/ relatives.
* Good negotiation and conflict resolution skills to manage and deescalate potentially difficult/ contentious situations
Desirable criteria
* Counselling skills including active listening and a nonjudgmental approach
Experience
Essential criteria
* Experience of working in a customer service environment/ role.
* Experience of analysing problems and providing solutions.
* Experience of dealing with distressed angry and unhappy customers/ service users
Desirable criteria
* Experience of complaints handling and/or Patient Advice & Liaison Service
* Experience of working with patients or service users
Your recruitment team
The NHS South West London Recruitment Hub is your dedicated recruitment team, here to support you at every stage of the process. If you have a query, please contact us:
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Your application
Please ensure your supporting statement clearly reflects the job description and person specification, as shortlisting will be based on these criteria.
Please refer to the latest UKVI guidance and ensure you have the appropriate right to work before applying for this role.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to draft your application. We value authentic, individual responses that reflect your own experience and communication style.
References
Please provide a minimum of 3 years' employment and/or education history, including professional email addresses (not personal accounts such as Hotmail or Gmail). If you cannot provide these, please inform the interview panel to avoid delays in pre-employment checks.
Closing date
To help us manage recruitment efficiently, some vacancies may close early once we have received a sufficient number of applications.
Shortlisting
If you are successfully shortlisted, you will be contacted by email or SMS from the South West London Recruitment Hub. Please check your registered TRAC email regularly.
Application feedback
If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion.
Safeguarding and DBS Checks
We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. For roles with direct access to these groups, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be required. All staff are expected to understand and uphold their safeguarding responsibilities as part of their role.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Application numbers
This vacancy may have an application cap, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment. Ensure your supporting statement clearly shows how you meet the job specifications.