Band 6 Patient Relations Manager

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking for a skilled and compassionate leader to join our Patient Relations team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. As part of a department that combines the Complaints service and PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service), this is an opportunity to work at the heart of patient experience, ensuring that the voices of patients, families, and carers are heard and acted upon to drive meaningful improvements in care.

This role is ideal for someone with experience in managing complex cases and leading teams, who is looking for a role that makes a tangible difference to both patients and staff. You will play a key part in the Trust's efforts to enhance services by analysing feedback, identifying trends, and collaborating with teams across the organisation.

Joining now comes at an exciting time, as we continue to develop integrated systems to streamline our approach to patient feedback and complaints management. You'll be part of a forward-thinking team committed to embedding a culture of continuous learning and improvement. This is a unique chance to take on a rewarding role in one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK, where your work will have a real impact on patient care and staff development.

If you're passionate about improving patient experiences and want to lead a team that values kindness, collaboration, and innovation, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

What You'll Do as Patient Relations Manager

As the Patient Relations Manager, you will lead a dedicated Complaints team, ensuring all cases are managed efficiently and in line with Trust policies and national regulations. You'll oversee the triaging, allocation, and resolution of complaints within your allocated Clinical Delivery Groups (CDGs), providing quality assurance and ensuring compliance with key performance indicators (KPIs). You'll also manage complex complaints directly, often involving sensitive and challenging situations, working closely with people making complaints, patients, families, and carers to resolve their concerns.

Day-to-day, you'll:

1. Lead and support your team, managing workloads, performance, and development.
2. Provide expert advice to staff and CDG colleagues on handling complaints and implementing improvements.
3. Facilitate resolution meetings and oversee correspondence to ensure compassionate and professional responses.
4. Analyse feedback and complaints data to identify trends, highlight areas for improvement, and report on performance to internal stakeholders.
5. Deliver training and education on complaints handling to ensure staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge to provide excellent service.

We're seeking a compassionate, confident, and organised professional with:

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

1. Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;
2. Offering our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reaches their true potential, achieves their ambitions and thrives in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.

Job responsibilities

Please note for a specific detailed job description for this vacancy please see attached job description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to Degree level or substantial experience at a comparable level
• To have an in-depth understanding of the complaints regulations and the Trust's Patient Relations policy and procedures in order to provide appropriate advice to their team and CDG colleagues.

Experience

• Experience of working with patients and families in a customer services role, including handling complex issues and behaviours.
• Experience of developing and implementing systems/procedures.
• Experience of collating, analysing and reporting complex data.
• Experience of influencing and negotiating with staff of all grades/professional groups.
• Experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Experience of building effective contacts and networks.
• Specialist knowledge of PALS and complaints practice, policies and compliance requirements.
• Understanding of the issues and policies around inclusion.
• Knowledge relating to GDPR, duty of confidentiality and consent.

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.

Employer name

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust