PALS & Complaints Officer | North Bristol NHS Trust
| Posting date: | 13 November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £27,485 - £30,162 pa pro rata |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 13 December 2025 |
| Location: | Bristol, BS10 5NB |
| Company: | North Bristol NHS |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 7614108/339-CNO0170-LMG |
Summary
To contribute to the delivery of an outstanding experience for all service users and their families, by supporting the resolution of enquiries, PALS concerns and complaints within agreed timescales, and the Trust’s wider Patient Experience engagement and feedback processes.
The key result areas of the post holder are:
• To effectively manage complaints in accordance with national guidance and local Trust policies and procedures.
• To facilitate speedy and informal resolution of enquiries raised by service users, their families and carers through liaison with Trust staff and other agencies.
• To provide information, advice and support to service users, their families and carers raising concerns through PALS. This includes providing information about local services, including voluntary and statutory agencies.
• To provide high quality guidance and support to divisions on resolving complaints and concerns. Supporting staff in complex cases where an independent approach would benefit both the patient and staff.
• To take a person-centred approach to each case, ensuring internal processes and procedures are applied in a way that the patient understands and supports their needs.
• To identify trends and themes arising from complaints and to escalate this to senior managers for consideration.
• To record, progress and assist in case managing complaints and concerns to achieve accurate and timely responses. Ensuring good communication with the complainant throughout.
North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.
North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.
• Day to Day task acting as one of the Complaints/PALS Officers, dealing with a caseload of both formal complaints, PALS concerns and enquires.
• Responding to patients, their carers or relatives by telephone, email and face to face, to investigate the issues whilst involving key staff in order to reach a satisfactory resolution.
• To work closely with patients/service users, understanding their concerns/complaints, desired outcomes and discussing and agreeing options and timescales for resolution in line with the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) principles and NHS Complaint Regulations.
• Advise those patients that wish to formally complain of the Trusts complaints process and signpost to and offer independent advocacy services.
• To handle complaints and enquiries in a polite, sympathetic and empathetic way, giving reassurances that all enquiries will be handled in confidence.
• To case manage concerns and all complaints allocated by the Complaints & PALS Manager, working to national and local protocols, policies and procedures.
• Keep confidential records in line with Trust Policy and to assist with monitoring and evaluation of complaints in accordance with the Caldicott recommendations and the Data Protection Act and refer all enquiries concerning MP’s and the PHSO to a senior manager.
• Act as a frontline point of contact for patients, carers, service users and key partners including GPs.
• On Radar, log accurately all contacts and record tany actions taken in order to reach a conclusion that is satisfactory to the service user.
• To identify those concerns that meet the thresholds of other Trust policies such as safeguarding, serious incidents, duty of candour and to escalate any concerns to the Complaints & PALS Manager.
• Support the Patient Experience agenda and strategy alongside the wider Nursing and Quality agendas.
• Maintain a basic knowledge of Trust policies and procedures and developments.
• Build and maintain good relationships with local partners and stakeholders.
• Support in the collection of patient experience data, both electronic and paper based
• To attend complaints resolution meetings and other meetings as required.
• To ensure that service users, their relatives and carers have access to information about the complaints process and PALS.
• To provide high quality and high level support and advice to divisions in the handling of complaints.
• To obtain and receive all documentation relating to each complaint or PALS concerns from divisions, scrutinising the Radar record to ensure complete records and that all issues are addressed.
• To monitor timescales for dealing with complaints and PALS concerns, identifying delays and causes for delays, highlighting these to the Complaints & PALS Manager.
• Additional duties as required/detailed by Patient Experience Manager in relation to supporting the team.
This advert closes on Thursday 27 Nov 2025