Complaints Investigating Lead

Are you an experienced and compassionate leader with a passion for patient advocacy, high-quality complaint handling and service improvement? We are seeking a dynamic Complaints Investigation Lead to join our wider Patient Experience and Insight team, providing visible leadership and professional oversight of the organisation's response to formal complaints. As a senior leader the post holder will lead and support the Complaints Investigators, championing a consistently compassionate and person-centred approach and ensuring that the voice of service users drives learning, positive change and service transformation across the Trust. The post holder will work collaboratively with Divisions and senior leaders to oversee the delivery of timely, compassionate and transparent complaint investigations, providing expert advice, constructive challenge and quality assurance while ensuring that learning is identified and translated into sustainable improvement. They will lead on compliance with national complaints requirements and standards set by the Care Quality Commission and other relevant regulators, monitor quality and performance, and support the development of effective systems, processes and professional practice. Acting as the Trust's expert resource for complaint investigation and reporting, the post holder will provide senior leadership, build capability across the organisation and support delivery of the Trust's wider complaints and patient experience agenda

• Provide day-to-day operational leadership for the corporate complaint's investigation function, translating priorities into clear workload allocations, milestones and standards for the Band 7 Complaints Investigating Officers.
• Maintain oversight of the complete investigation portfolio (including effective administration of the digital Complaints Management System), reviewing caseload, complexity, risk, timeliness, dependencies and capacity; intervene early and escalate barriers or emerging risks to the Head of Patient Experience and Insight.
• Personally lead an allocated caseload of formal complaints from clarification and planning through evidence appraisal, findings, response drafting, action planning and closure.
• Provide structured supervision, case consultation, coaching and constructive challenge to Band 7 colleagues, supporting sound judgement, professional boundaries, resilience and consistent application of fair investigation practice.
• Quality assures investigation plans, evidence records, findings, draft responses, remedies and action plans, ensuring each concern is addressed and that outputs are accurate, empathetic, accessible and ready for the appropriate approval pathway.
• Maintain compassionate and transparent communication with complainants and representatives, particularly where cases are complex, delayed, escalated or require senior intervention, ensuring reasonable adjustments and communication needs are met.
As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work. In return we will offer:
• Development opportunities, both professional and leadership development
• On-going support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes
Key Facts:
• We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day.
  
  We are the 4thbusiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England - an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day - 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.
UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff