Job summary
- Main area
- Patient Experience
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 210-2026-414
- Employer
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Countess of Chester Hospital
- Town
- Chester
- Salary
- £28,392 - £31,157 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 24/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
PALS Advisor
Band 4
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, staff pride themselves on not only leading through clinical excellence, but also by creating an environment where all staff are valued and appreciated. To achieve this, the Trust has embarked on an exciting new strategy focused on continuous improvement.
Our vision is to improve the lives of our community and provide excellence in healthcare, through partnership and innovation
Our High Performance Culture will support everyone to be the best version of themselves by being true to our Trust vision, values and behaviours.
We welcome applications from colleagues from our local and neighbouring communities of all backgrounds and identities, who are currently under-represented within our region such as Black, Asian, Minority ethnic and those with disabilities.
As a region we are reviewing the way we work, and exploring how new working practices that support flexible working can create a positive work-life balance. As part of our recruitment process we will explore how our inclusive employment policies, flexible working, staff engagement forums, Trust facilities and services can be of mutual benefit.
Job overview
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
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.
Main duties of the job
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
Working for our organisation
The Trust’s services are provided from three locations:
• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.
• 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
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to NVQ 3 level (or diploma Level equivalent)
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of further education or training in relation to patient experience and/or PALS
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Able to manage own work load and supervise less experienced staff
- Able to deal with complex communication and/or situations
- Able to provide advice and support to patients, families and the wider public
- Knowledge and/or experience of PALS and the national Patient experience agenda
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and/or experience of the NHS Complaints procedure
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and communications skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to communicate with empathy, sensitivity and tact
- Experience of using Word and Excel databases
- Experience with Datix reporting system
- Negotiating and influencing skills, including the ability to deal confidently with conflict situations
Desirable criteria
- Presentation Skills
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Jodie Mcilwain
- Job title
- Head of Complaints
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01244364236
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