Patient Relations Coordinator | Yorkshire Ambulance Service Nhs Trust

We are currently seeking a Patient Relations Coordinator to play a key role in the Patient Relations Team which is part of the wider Quality & Safety Team of the Quality, Governance and Performance Assurance Directorate.
The post is a full time role primarily carrying out complaint investigations and being the named point of contact for the complainant.
You will be responsible for managing a busy caseload, liaising with senior managers to agree outcomes and responses to complaints and to ensure the relevant actions are taken within the services to achieve learning and service development as a result of feedback from patients and the public.
The role is hybrid working but does require 2 to 3 days per week office based.
The Patient Relations Coordinator manages all verbal and written contact with complainants and maintains high quality records of all investigations and correspondence ensuring that regulatory and contracted time targets are met and complainants are kept adequately informed of progress throughout the period of investigation.
We are therefore seeking someone who has excellent written and verbal communication skills and can evidence their ability to deal with an unpredictable workload, ensuring key priorities and deadlines are met through effective time management.
Experience and knowledge of complaints processes and procedures is essential as is the use of IT systems for case management.
You will be educated to degree level or will be able to demonstrate an equivalent level of experience as detailed in the person specification.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) serves over 5 million people in the Yorkshire region covering an urban and rural area of almost 6,000 square miles and operates over vastly differing terrain ranging from isolated moors and dales to city centres, large urban areas and coastal stretches.
YAS provides 24 hour urgent and emergency healthcare services through our IUC and Emergency Communication centres.
The Patient Relations team is based centrally, provides the Patient Advice and Liaison service for the whole of the trust and receives and manages the coordination of all complaints, concerns, comments and compliments for the A&E Service and the Patient Transport Service.
A highly-organised team player is being sought to complement the existing experienced members of the Patient Relations team who work closely together and support each other to meet team goals.
• To receive the four Cs, both oral and written which may involve frequent exposure to verbal aggression from callers.
• To meet with clients and clinical staff on a regular basis.
• To deal directly with clients and be able to respond in a sensitive manner, demonstrating sympathy and empathy to distressed patients and relatives.
• To provide guidance to patients and service users on their referral to the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service.
• To adopt a flexible and creative approach when evaluating the best ways to resolve matters to the satisfaction of the person or people involved. Consideration should be given to a meeting or mediation as necessary.
• To keep the originator of the concern or complaint updated on progress.
• To identify those concerns and complaints which cannot be resolved within the agreed timescales and agree extensions with the client.
• To draft high quality, substantive responses in a sensitive and open way, ensuring that all the issues and questions raised have been addressed fully and explanations and apologies given. Information regarding any follow up action should be included.
• To play a key role in meetings with clients ensuring that the client’s views and concerns are fully addressed. Making a record of the meeting and distributing to all present.
• To support individual patients, relatives and carers, in order to resolve problems and concerns by ensuring access to information and advice for all members of the public regarding the Trust’s concerns and complaints procedures.
• To advise those who have raised a concern or made a complaint about how the NHS Complaints Procedure operates.
• To foster good relationships with external agencies such as Advocacy Services, other NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups.
• To develop working relationships with colleagues within the Trust and other organisations that are productive in terms of supporting and sharing best practice.
• To ensure that planned organisation changes relating to complaints and compliments are communicated positively to appropriate people e.g. staff, patients and carers.
• To consult and listen to comments from key stakeholders (managers, staff etc) in order to develop ways that the service could be improved.
• To ensure that clients are not discriminated against if they raise concerns or make complaints against the service.
• To ensure that appropriate confidentiality is maintained at all times
This advert closes on Sunday 11 Feb 2024