PALS Assistant Service Manager

at  Northumbria Healthcare NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

To manage and co-ordinate a team of North of Tyne PALS Officers in providing information and confidential advice and support to patients, carers, families about health services locally (including voluntary organisations and support groups) to help them make the best use of the NHS and related services.
Prepare reports utilising the PALS DATIX database, relating to PALS activity for all partner NHS organisations in Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle, including Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Cumberland, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (North of Tyne) The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, , North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Clinical Commisioning Groups and NHS England to make them aware of the experiences of patients, carers and families who have raised their concerns through PALS, in such a way as to influence service change and development within the organisations.
As part of the management team, develop and implement policies and procedures to meet the requirements of the ongoing North of Tyne PALS development plan.
To manage part of the North of Tyne PALS team and ensure that the service delivers an accessible PALS service within all partner NHS organisations in the North of Tyne area and including the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.
To manage and support PALS officers in resolving complex and contentious concerns raised by patients, families and carers by analysing the range of available options and ensuring that appropriate choices are presented to the client.
Plan and organise the team’s resources – managing the work plans of the team on a day-to-day basis to meet the unpredictable level of demand from PALS service users.
To co-ordinate work across health and social care to promote and deliver the PALS service.
To maintain close and regular contact with the partner NHS organisations, accounting to them for the operation of the service and supporting them to use PALS feedback to improve services.
To develop knowledge of health and social care, including local practice and provision and national policy.
To work closely with managers and staff in health and social care organisations within the partner NHS organisations to deliver PALS and support service improvement.
We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality – opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read ‘applicant guidance notes’ before submitting your application.
To Manage and support PALS officers to help them deal with concerns from patients, families and carers, using empathy and reassurance to reach a conclusion.
Provide information and support directly to patients, families and carers when dealing with escalated concerns or staffing the freephone.
Development and maintaining of links with the designated Trusts to act as the main contact point with key staff members and into appropriate forums agreed with the Trusts to feed back PALS issues and influence service development.
Feeding back PALS reports into the clinical governance and quality assurance mechanisms of partner NHS organisations, providing and receiving the complex, sensitive and contentious information gained from PALS clients and presenting it in order to influence and negotiate change.
Maintaining regular contact with senior staff in the designated partner NHS organisations, including Director level partner organisation representatives and senior complaints officers.
Work with other members of the North of Tyne PALS team and other PALS as appropriate to ensure individuals experience a seamless PALS service.
Supporting designated partner organisations in using PALS feedback to improve services.
Ensure that the PALS team develops and maintains links with key patient / service user / carer / voluntary and community groups, organisations and other networks.
Work with other members of the PALS team to ensure a broad awareness and understanding of PALS across all relevant organisations including contribution to staff training as appropriate.
Positively promote PALS and the North of Tyne approach including contributing to training and presentations to large groups of people.
Influence service development and negotiate change with senior staff in the partner NHS organisations

Please refer the Job description for details