About this role
Job summary
Complaints and Patient Experience Manager.
Full time, 37.5 hours per week.
Band 6 £39,959 - £48,117 per annum.
Are you passionate about improving patient experience and ensuring every voice is heard?
Do you have the skills to lead, influence and drive meaningful change from feedback and complaints?
We are looking for a Complaints & Patient Experience Manager to join our dedicated Patient Experience Team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping how we listen, learn and improve across our services.
As our Complaints & Patient Experience Manager, you will lead the Trust's complaint's function, ensuring concerns are handled with compassion, professionalism and in line with statutory regulations. You will oversee the full complaints process--from initial contact through to resolution--while promoting a culture where feedback is welcomed and acted upon.
You will work closely with senior leaders, clinical teams and external partners to ensure learning from complaints drives continuous service improvement and enhances patient care.
Main duties of the job
Lead and manage the Trust's complaints service, ensuring compliance with NHS standards and regulations Oversee the investigation and resolution of complex complaints, ensuring timely, high-quality responses Provide expert advice and guidance to staff at all levels on complaints handling and patient experience Analyse complaints data, identify trends, and produce reports for senior leaders and Board committees Drive a culture of early resolution, learning, and service recovery Develop and deliver training programmes to improve staff confidence in managing concerns Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, including the Ombudsman and advocacy services Support improvements across patient experience, safety, and quality initiatives
About us
As a Trust we remain bold and ambitious with plans for both service and system collaborative transformation over the coming years to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people through high quality care.
We pride ourselves onensuring our team has their wellbeing put first and as such provide a range of wellness opportunities including flexible working.
We are committed to the Greener NHS national ambition to becoming the world's first 'carbon net zero' national health system by 2045 (Greener NHS (england.nhs.uk). As part of this, sustainability is embedded in our strategy as one of our four key enablers. In order to deliver on this commitment, we recognise that we need a workforce that is as passionate as we are about achieving these goals, for the benefit of our service users, workforce, local communities and the planet alike.
The Trust is committed to ensuring that a diverse workforce is representative and inclusive at all levels. We would very much welcome applications from all under-represented groups including women, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds, and those from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities.
The Trust is committed to the Step into Health scheme and actively encourages applicants from the Armed Forces Communities to apply.
Job description Job responsibilities Leadership of Complaints & Patient Experience Function
Act as the Trusts designated Complaints Manager, leading and developing a high-quality, responsive complaints service that aligns with NHS regulations and best practice standards Oversee the full lifecycle of complaints, ensuring they are managed consistently from receipt through to final response, with a strong focus on resolution and learning Deputise for the Recovery & Experience Lead, providing leadership on patient experience matters when required Complaint Handling & Investigation Oversight Triage incoming concerns, determining the most appropriate approach (early resolution or formal investigation) to achieve timely and effective outcomes Allocate and oversee investigations, ensuring they are thorough, fair, evidence-based and compliant with relevant policies and standards Maintain regular communication with complainants, ensuring transparency, empathy and clarity throughout the process Prepare high-quality, sensitive and accurate written responses on behalf of senior leaders, including the Chief Executive Facilitate meetings between complainants and staff to support resolution and restore confidence where possible Supporting Staff & Building Capability Provide expert advice, coaching and support to staff involved in complaints to ensure confidence and consistency in handling concerns Develop and deliver training programmes on complaints handling, communication, and early resolution across the organisation Ensure staff who are the subject of complaints are supported appropriately throughout the process Line manage and develop members of the Patient Experience Team, ensuring high performance and continuous professional development Driving Early Resolution & Service Recovery Promote a culture of early resolution, empowering frontline teams to respond to concerns quickly and compassionately Support staff to manage and resolve issues at the earliest opportunity, improving patient satisfaction and reducing escalation Embed a service recovery approach across the Trust, focusing on learning, responsiveness and continuous improvement Quality Improvement, Reporting & Insight Analyse complaints data to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement, translating insight into actionable change Produce high-quality reports for senior leadership, Board committees and external bodies, including thematic analysis and performance metrics Work collaboratively with clinical and operational teams to ensure learning from complaints leads to tangible service improvements Contribute to wider quality improvement, patient safety and governance initiatives across the Trust Stakeholder Engagement & External Liaison Act as a key point of contact for external organisations, including the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and advocacy services Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to promote best practice and shared learning Represent the service at meetings, delivering presentations and briefings as required Governance, Compliance & Risk Management Ensure all complaints processes comply with relevant legislation, NHS standards, data protection and information governance requirements Identify and escalate safeguarding, patient safety or regulatory concerns arising from complaints Maintain accurate and confidential records, ensuring robust audit trails and documentation Monitor performance against key targets, including response timescales, and take action where improvement is needed
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience Knowledge of NHS complaints procedures and relevant legislation Experience of managing staff and delivering training
Desirable
Conflict resolution training Evidence of ongoing professional development and further training
Experience Essential
Experience of line manager responsibilities. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the National NHS Complaints Procedure.
Desirable
Experience of working in partnership with a number of agencies.
Skills Essential
Strong analytical and report-writing skills. Ability to plan work to ensure quality outcomes. Strong analytical and report-writing skills.
Desirable
Knowledge of safeguarding, patient safety investigations, and regulatory frameworks. Training in mediation, conflict resolution, or root cause analysis.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust
Address Harplands Hospital
Hilton Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 6TH
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.combined.nhs.uk/working-together/join-our-team/ (Opens in a new tab)