Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services. Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients. In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research. We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’. The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients. We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS. Job overview A new and exciting opportunity has arisen within The Patient Resolution (Complaints Management) Department to cover 12 months Maternity Leave, based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London for a Deputy Head of Patient Resolution. Our central complaints team sits within the Quality and Assurance Directorate, in the office of the Medical Director, and contributes to the Directorate’s aim to build on our clinical excellence through effective quality improvement. We see every complaint is an opportunity for us to better understand and improve the quality of our services. We are striving to create a complaints service that learns from the concerns raised whilst reflecting the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s user-led vision for raising concerns and complaints. Main duties of the job The Deputy Head of Patient Resolution will: Operationally manage the central Patient Resolution Officers Working closely with Senior Management to manage all complaints, and to deliver a timely and effective local resolution stage of the complaints process ensuring a customer focused service which is responsive and transparent. To review all draft complaints responses following investigation to ensure responses are of appropriate quality, and in line with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s principles. To be responsible for maintaining and monitoring the complaints database (Datix), i.e. to ensure integrity of data captured, that it is timely and relevant, allowing meaningful analysis and interpretation through the trust database and other systems including Excel. To deputise for the Head of Patient Resolution when required, attending Trust meetings and providing expert advice on the complaints procedure. Working for our organisation As part of the Medical Director's team, the Quality & Assurance Directorate supports the Trust's delivery of Patient Safety, Quality Assurance, Clinical Governance and Risk Management and Complaints to improve safety and quality of care for patients, visitors and staff. The Complaints service provides Trust wide support and expert advice on the handling of complaints and patient concerns. Alongside our colleagues in the patient advice and liaison service (PALS), we assist patients or their representatives in making complaints about their healthcare and provide expert support to staff investigating complaints. The complaints team works proactively with Clinical Groups and to support resolution of concerns. The service is also responsible for supporting the organisation in the identification of trends and to promote learning from complaints. Detailed job description and main responsibilities The Deputy Head of Patient Resolution, alongside the Head of Patient Resolution, will be responsible for overseeing the Complaints function for the Trust with a focus on achieving the best possible outcome complaints for patients and their representatives, ensuring that learning is identified from complaints and shared across the organisation. The Deputy Head of Patient Resolution will manage the Patient Resolution Officers in the central team and lead on the coordination of complex investigations. Further responsibilities will include providing expert advice on complaints handling for the Trust, providing training on complaints handling and working alongside Clinical Groups for early identification of trends and themes. The role will involve working with all levels of internal stakeholders across the Trust, as well as liaising with Complaints counterparts at different organisations across the NHS. Qualifications Essential criteria Masters level or equivalent experience Evidence of continuing professional development Desirable criteria Diploma or equivalent professional qualification Management qualification Post qualification training in management Knowledge, training and experience Essential criteria Significant experience in the field of patient complaints within the NHS Experience as a leader of a team with an operational or customer care focus Extensive working knowledge of the NHS complaints procedures, the role of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Experience of influencing and working across organisational boundaries in the development of healthcare services. Experience of teaching, presentational skills and mentoring. Experience and knowledge of implementing human resource policies. An understanding of Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act. Skills and Abilities Communication Essential criteria Highly developed communication skills, verbal and written, and the ability to communicate to diverse. Desirable criteria Working knowledge of Datix both Client and Web Person specification Qualifications Essential criteria Masters level or equivalent experience Evidence of continuing professional development Desirable criteria Diploma or equivalent professional qualification Management qualification Post qualification training in management Knowledge, training and experience Essential criteria Significant experience in the field of patient complaints within the NHS Experience as a leader of a team with an operational or customer care focus Extensive working knowledge of the NHS complaints procedures, the role of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Experience of influencing and working across organisational boundaries in the development of healthcare services Experience of teaching, presentational skills and mentoring Experience and knowledge of implementing human resource policies An understanding of Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act Skills and abilities Communication Essential criteria Highly developed communication skills, verbal and written, and the ability to communicate to diverse Desirable criteria Working knowledge of Datix both Client and Web Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership. Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy. As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. Flexible working We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process. Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis. Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now." Further details / informal visits contact Name Janet Placid Job title Directorate Office Manager Email address [email protected] Telephone number 02071887188