PALS Advisor

You will be part of a team responsible for the delivery of the Trust's statutory requirement of listening and responding to patients and the publics concerns.

You will be responsible for managing the Patient Experience helpdesk, working autonomously to respond to and action any concerns identified and working collaboratively with the appropriate clinical or business team to address any issues.

Your focus will be to provide a single point of contact for patients, families & the public who wish to raise complaints regarding the care, treatment or services delivered at the Trust.

You will ensure that patients and the public receive a timely, sensitive, fair and thorough response to their queries, concerns and complaints.

You will support the Complaints Handlers to ensure all contacts are dealt with appropriately and that statutory and regulatory requirements are met in full.

You will support the Deputy Head of Complaints and PALS with the monitoring of patient feedback from a range of different sources, including but not limited to the friends and family website, NHS Choices, and social media.

You will identify issues from contacts with patients, relatives and carers concerning the service they receive and support service improvement.

The list below is to outline the main duties involved; however, this is subject to change and will vary within the given role., 1. You will work within a rota of staff to cover the Patient Experience helpdesk - this includes email/ telephone/ face to face contacts

2. You will be responsible for providing a single point of contact for patients, families & the public

3. You will be responsible for receiving and responding to complex and sensitive information provided by clinicians, non-clinical staff, patients, families & the public

4. You will act on information received, working autonomously to address any issues or concerns raised including signposting to outside organisations

5. You will ensure complainants are updated regarding actions taken.

6. You will support the Deputy Head of Complaints and PALS in ensuring there is high visibility of the PALs services within the trust; supporting patients and families to access and navigate the complaints and feedback processes

7. You will act within the Trust Information Governance and Serious Incident policies at all times, ensuring the Trust's obligation to 'Duty of candour' is consistently met within your role as Patient Experience Advisor

8. You will be responsible for relevant data entry and store data in real time within the Datix system

9. You will raise items for escalation to the Complaints Handlers, where appropriate

10 You will act as facilitator and mediator at meetings to support patients and staff with PALS concern

The Trust's services are provided from three locations:

o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.

The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery