PALs and Bereavement Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

Patient Advice & Liaison Service

Provide a personal, visible and accessible Patient Advice and Liaison Service and play an active part in making contact with the Trust as easy as possible, signposting patients, service users, relatives and/or carers.

To have frontline direct contact with patients, either by telephone, email, correspondence or face to face.

To support individual patients, carers and family members in order to resolve problems and concerns, offering a number of options and sources of information where possible, including other local and national support networks as necessary.

To liaise with health, voluntary and statutory services on behalf of clients to help resolve problems and concerns.

To listen to patients concerns, suggestions and experiences and raising these with the people who manage services.

To help patients understand the NHS complaints procedure and how to make a complaint.

To work within agreed protocols regarding confidentiality, consent and equal opportunities.

Assist with ensuring patients have access to the Trusts interpreting service in accordance with the Interpreting and Translation Guidelines.

Participate in Safeguarding of Adults by ensuring the PALS Office continues to be a designated safe place.

Bereavement Service

To be responsible for ensuring that clear and accurate records are kept relating to each death within the hospital and to oversee the completion of all paperwork relating to these deaths.

To be responsible for ensuring that relatives are given all relevant paperwork and are provided with information regarding formal requirements.

To supervise the prompt and correct completion of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death in line with statutory legislation.

To supervise the prompt and correct completion of cremation papers in line with statutory legislation.

To maintain the Trusts bereavement database.

To act as a point of contact between medical staff and relatives, to liaise with the Chaplaincy, Risk Management Department, Medical Records Department, HM Coroners Office and Registrars of Births and Deaths.

To liaise with Funeral Directors and Coroners Officers as required, to ensure procedures and arrangements towards the issue of death certificates are expedited.

Accompany bereaved relatives to viewings in the mortuary viewing room.

Patient Property

To be responsible for the collection of or the acceptance and safe keeping or safe disposal of property such as clothing, money and/or valuables to comply with the Trust Policy.

Awareness of health and safety issues if property is contaminated (e.g.: blood, faeces, urine, vomit, lice) or contains sharps and ensuring that protective clothing (gloves and aprons) is worn.

To have responsibility for the correct return to the patient or the next of kin or disposal of patients property in line with Trust Policy.

To investigate the whereabouts of deceased patients property when there is a discrepancy between ward documentation and relatives recollections of patients property.

Record information relating to lost property reported to the PALS Office on database.

Equality and Diversity

Act in a way that supports equality and value diversity.

Encourage a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.

Participate in Equality and Diversity Impact Assessments as appropriate.

General Administration

To produce correspondence to a high standard, using a range of MS Office software products.

To source and collate health related information and health information access points, ensuring the PALS / Bereavement service holds up to date information, which can be made accessible to clients.

To maintain accurate records of PALS / Bereavement contacts, using the Datix system, and departmental databases.

To provide activity reports by collating statistics held on the Datix system, or departmental databases.

To develop and maintain effective and efficient office systems, including brought forward tasks.

To arrange and attend meetings between clients and staff, taking notes where necessary and clarifying outcomes.

Locate, obtain and track medical records using Lorenzo.

To liaise with colleagues elsewhere in the NHS, from social services and from the independent and voluntary sectors as well as practitioners and patients representative.

Networking and Liaison

To build and maintain good working relationships with clinical and non-clinical staff and to work co-operatively with staff from other agencies.

To have effective, respectful and sensitive communications skills.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Good standard of secondary education or equivalent
• O level/GCSE standard or equivalent
• Recognised typing and word processing qualifications
• NVQ Level 3 qualification and equivalent experience to diploma level equivalent

Experience

Essential

• Establishing & Maintaining Office systems & procedures
• Dealing with confidential & sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy
• Working under pressure within time constraints
• Experience of working with health service users/carers & voluntary organisations
• Experience of working in a PALS role or similar role

Desirable

• Working knowledge of Datix & Patient Administration System (Lorenzo)
• Experience of working with bereaved families

Skills

Essential

• Knowledge of NHS, Social Care & Voluntary Organisations & the ability to signpost as appropriate
• Knowledge of data protection & patient confidentiality legislation
• Proven secretarial and administrative skills
• Ability to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint packages & access to internet
• Ability to analyse facts & situations, providing solutions for queries & concerns of a complex nature
• Ability to work within a high level of confidentiality
• Excellent communication skills, demonstrating the ability to discuss multifaceted, complex & delicate issues
• Ability to establish/keep records, gather patient contact information, analyse data, & produce reports identifying themes & trends
• Ability to work autonomously, on own initiative & as part of a team as required
• Ability to work on own initiative within community
• To demonstrate an understanding of the principles of equality & values of diversity
• Understanding of the NHS Complaints procedure & when to refer concerns to the formal process
• Able to organise & prioritise own work
• Excellent organizational skills & good time management
• Minute-taking & Diary management Meetings/events organisation

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Enthusiastic & self-motivated
• Mature, adaptable & flexible approach to work
• Ability to deal with unpredictable workload and frequent interruptions yet able to meet tight deadlines when required
• Tactful & diplomatic with a high degree of discretion and initiative

Other Job Requirements

Essential

• Evidence of ongoing personal development
• Car owner/driver willing to travel in the course of undertaking duties
• Ability to work occasionally outside of normal office working hours

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

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Patient Experience C26019

Warwick Hospital, Lakin Road

Warwick

CV34 5BW

Employer's website

https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)