About this role
Job summary
We are looking for someone who can turn patient complaints as feedback into action, identify opportunities for improvement, influence change across the organisation and help shape the future of patient experience within an innovative, forward-thinking primary care organisation.
You will lead our complaints function, ensuring concerns are managed professionally and compassionately, while also driving a culture that recognises complaints and feedback as valuable insight into how we can continuously improve our services.
Alongside this as our Patient Engagement Lead you'll have the autonomy to create, lead, and influence meaningful projects that directly improve patient understanding, confidence, and engagement with their healthcare while helping shape the future direction of one of the region's most innovative GP practices.
Finally within this role to ensure that our systems and processes are maintained to meet our obligations to the CQC and to our patients. You will be an experienced professional with experience of working within a CQC regulated environment. You will work closely with our Business Support Manager and Lead Clinician to ensure that our systems and processes are CQC ready every day.
Main duties of the job
What You'll Be Doing
Leading the management of patient complaints, feedback and compliments. Identifying trends, opportunities and service improvements from patient feedback. Producing reports and recommendations for senior management and Board members. Driving a positive culture where feedback is embraced as an opportunity to learn and improve. Developing and delivering patient education initiatives and engagement events throughout the year. Building strong relationships with patients, community groups and stakeholders. Supporting service improvement projects across the organisation. Maintaining a comprehensive compliance program to ensure SCGP is CQC compliant.
Conducting regular audits to assess CQC readiness and identify key controls and risks.
Lead on preparation for inspections and maintain accurate records of CQC compliance.
About us
Sutton Coldfield Group Practice is one of the largest GP practices in the region, caring for a significant and growing patient population across six sites.
We are proud of our culture, which encourages innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement. As a single organisation operating across multiple sites, we are committed to creating modern, sustainable primary care services that place both patients and staff at the heart of everything we do.
We believe our people are our greatest asset. Team members are encouraged to contribute ideas, challenge existing ways of working and play an active role in shaping the future direction of the Practice. We are committed to developing our teams and creating opportunities for individuals to expand their skills, responsibilities and careers.
As we continue our transformation journey, we are seeking an ambitious and proactive Patient Experience Lead to become a key member of our team.
Job description Job responsibilities 1. Job Role & Purpose
The objective of this role is to ensure Sutton Coldfield Group Practice (SCGP) maintains continuous CQC readiness, effective governance and compliance systems, robust complaints management processes and meaningful patient engagement. The post holder will lead governance and quality improvement initiatives, coordinate patient feedback and complaints management, and develop an annual programme of patient education and information events across SCGP.
2. Key Duties & Responsibilities Complaints Management
Lead and take ownership of the entire patient feedback and complaints function, ensuring concerns are resolved effectively and converted into measurable service improvements.
Work alongside Partners, GPs, Managers, and Team Leaders to investigate issues, identify root causes, and implement lasting solutions.
Design and implement a robust complaints management system that provides clear oversight of cases, trends, risks, and performance.
Act as the organisation's specialist lead for patient feedback, ensuring all complaints are managed professionally, consistently, and within agreed timescales.
Take ownership of the SCGP Feedback Inbox, acting as the central point of contact for patient concerns and feedback.
Meet directly with patients where required, building trust, managing difficult conversations, and helping achieve positive outcomes.
Analyse complaint trends and operational challenges, using insight and data to drive improvements across multiple sites and services.
Produce high-level reports and presentations for the Board, highlighting key themes, risks, performance metrics, and recommendations for strategic action.
Work closely with communications and social media colleagues to demonstrate how patient feedback has influenced improvements and strengthened services.
Influence managers and leaders across the organisation by communicating lessons learned, driving accountability, and embedding continuous improvement.
Champion a culture where feedback is viewed as valuable intelligence that helps strengthen services, improve patient experience, and support organisational growth.
CQC Readiness Maintain CQC compliance assurance trackers,
Proactively gathering and storing CQC evidence examples for learning/improvements conducted in line with inspection readiness
Keeping up to date with current regulations and informing all needed as necessary.
Patient Engagement & Education Work with team members across SCGP to identify priority topics and evaluate impact.
Lead the development and delivery of an annual patient engagement and education strategy, aligned to Practice priorities and population health initiatives.
Design and deliver high-impact patient events, workshops, and educational campaigns, both online and across our Practice sites.
Work alongside clinical leaders and management teams to identify key health priorities and create engaging initiatives that support prevention, wellbeing, and self-management.
Build strong relationships with patients, community groups, and partner organisations to strengthen SCGP's profile and community presence.
Drive innovation in patient communication, engagement, and health promotion, introducing new ideas and approaches that improve reach and participation.
Measure the success of engagement programmes through feedback, participation data, and outcome analysis, using insights to continuously improve future initiatives.
Produce impactful reports and presentations for senior leadership, demonstrating achievements, trends, opportunities, and return on investment.
Act as a champion for patient experience, ensuring the patient voice influences service development and future planning across the organisation.
3. Communication & Relationships To be an active and engaged team player, supporting the wider SCGP is its aims and objectives.
To actively participate in team meetings.
To work with other teams across the organisation collaboratively to ensure a joined up approach to our service delivery to patients.
4. Performance Standards Demonstrate a positive attitude.
To deliver against your agreed objectives.
To actively engage the appraisal process
To be honest and have integrity.
To follow all Practice policies and procedures.
5. Confidentiality While seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately. Postholders must adhere to the following principles:
In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers.
They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.
Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with SCGP policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
6. Health & Safety The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the SCGP health & safety policy, the health & safety manual, and the SCGP infection control policy and published procedures. This will include:
Using personal security systems within the workplace according to SCGP guidelines
Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks;
Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills;
Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards;
Active reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised;
Keeping own work areas generally clean and overseeing Site Managers in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of their role
Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually); Reporting potential risks identified to the SCGP Group Manager
7. Equality & Diversity The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with SCGP procedures and policies, and current legislation;
Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues;
Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
8. Job Description Reviews This job description is intended to provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities only. There may be other duties required of the post holder commensurate with their position. This description will be open to regular review and may be amended in the light of developing or changing services, or as part of an individual performance review process.
All members of staff should be prepared to take on additional duties or relinquish existing duties to maintain the efficient running of SCGP.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Experience: Experience in complaints management, governance, compliance, customer experience, quality improvement or a similar leadership role. Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills with confidence to engage with patients and all levels of personnel. Problem Solving: Good analytical skills with the ability to investigate issues, identify root causes and implement effective solutions. Organisation: Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple priorities, projects and deadlines. Resilience: Comfortable handling difficult conversations and managing challenging situations professionally. Reporting & IT: Good IT skills with experience producing reports, presentations and analysing data. Personal Qualities: Proactive, positive, self-motivated, confident, resilient and solutions-focused. Knowledge: Understanding of governance, compliance, complaints management or regulated environments.
Desirable
Sector Experience: Experience within healthcare, primary care, NHS, military, operations, customer service, hospitality or other regulated sectors. Patient Engagement: Experience of organising events, campaigns, education programmes or public engagement initiatives. Compliance: Experience supporting CQC inspections, audits or governance frameworks.
Qualifications Essential
Educated to A-Level standard or equivalent experience. GCSE English and Mathematics or equivalent.
Desirable
Qualification in leadership, management, governance, quality improvement or project management.
Employer details Employer name Sutton Coldfield Group Practice
Address 228 Lichfield Road
Sutton Coldfield
B74 2UE
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://leyhillsurgery.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)