Complaints Officer

Job summary

Shore Medical are looking for an experienced and compassionate Complaints Officer to join our supportive team for a 9-month fixed-term period. You'll play a key role in managing complaints across our six GP practices, ensuring patients and their families feel listened to and supported, while helping us learn from feedback and continuously improve our services.

This is an important role working closely with patients, clinicians, managers and senior leaders. You'll coordinate investigations, prepare responses, identify themes and risks, and help turn patient feedback into meaningful improvements across Shore Medical.

If you are organised, empathetic, an excellent communicator and enjoy working collaboratively to make a positive difference to patient experience, we would love to hear from you.

This a part time, fixed term role working 30 hours per week, Monday - Thursday 09:00 - 17:00.

Start date: October 2026

End date: June 2027

Location: Primarily based at Heatherview Medical Centre, with flexibility to work across all Shore Medical sites.

Main duties of the job

As Complaints Officer, you will play a key role in ensuring complaints and concerns are handled fairly, sensitively and within required timescales across Shore Medical.

You will coordinate investigations, liaise with patients and their representatives, and work closely with clinicians, managers and senior colleagues to understand concerns and provide clear, compassionate responses. You will also help identify themes, risks and learning from complaints, supporting improvements to patient experience and service delivery.

The role involves managing sensitive information, maintaining accurate records, monitoring progress and escalating significant concerns appropriately. You will provide advice and support to colleagues on complaint handling and contribute to reporting, governance and quality improvement activity.

This is a varied role suited to someone who is organised, empathetic, confident communicating with people in difficult circumstances and committed to making a positive difference to patient experience.

About us

Shore Medical is a GP Super Partnership with 6 practices across Poole and Bournemouth. We aspire to offer exceptional care to our 58,500 patients and are innovative in our approach to developing new teams and pathways to ever improve how general practice is delivered. We have a friendly and supportive team of more than 200 staff, with over 40 GPs, Pharmacists, Paramedics, Nurses, Mental Health specialists and our range of administrative staff. We have a great social side to our team with Summer and Christmas parties, running and paddle boarding groups as well as many other events throughout the year.

The Practices in the Partnership are:

• Lilliput Surgery
• Poole Road Medical Centre
• Wessex Road Surgery
• Heatherview Medical Centre
• Fernside Surgery
• Parkstone Tower Practice

Details

• Date posted: 02 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Other
• Salary: £15 an hour
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 9 months
• Working pattern: Part-time
• Reference number: W0037-26-0028
• Job locations: Heatherview Medical Centre, 2 Alder Park, Alder Road, Bournemouth, BH12 4AY, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of complex, sensitive and high-risk patient complaints, acting as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, carers, staff and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate and oversee complaint investigations across clinical and non-clinical teams, ensuring responses meet NHS complaints regulations, statutory requirements and organisational timescales.
• Conduct impartial investigations by reviewing clinical records, statements and relevant documentation, working collaboratively with clinicians and managers to establish facts and identify root causes.
• Liaise with complainants throughout the process to clarify concerns, manage expectations, facilitate early resolution and provide appropriate updates.
• Draft clear, empathetic and evidence-based complaint responses for approval by senior management and GP Partners.
• Ensure compliance with NHS complaints guidance, UK GDPR, Data Protection, Duty of Candour, safeguarding and information governance requirements, escalating patient safety and safeguarding concerns appropriately.
• Analyse complaint themes and trends to identify risks, learning and opportunities for service improvement, producing regular reports and management information for governance meetings.
• Monitor actions arising from complaints to ensure learning is implemented and improvements are sustained.
• Build effective relationships with GPs, clinical leads, managers and wider patient-facing teams, as well as external organisations including ICBs, NHS Resolution, PHSO and CQC where appropriate.
• Provide advice, coaching and training to staff and managers on complaint handling, patient communication and effective resolution.
• Maintain accurate, confidential complaint records and databases, manage competing priorities and ensure all cases are progressed within required timescales.
• Support governance activity, audits, CQC inspections and service improvement initiatives relating to complaints and patient experience.