Deputy Director of Patient Experience and Engagment

Job overview

The Deputy Director of Patient Engagement and Experience is such an exciting and impactful role at UHNM. We really do want to keep our people at the centre of all we do and give our local population a better health care experience and this comes from truly knowing and understanding the needs of our people. This role will lead our brilliant Patient Engagement Team and will provide strategic leadership and direction for patient involvement, experience, and engagement across the Trust and integrated care system footprint. This role ensures that patient voice is embedded at Board level and throughout service design, delivery, and evaluation, influencing organisational culture and strategic priorities. The post holder will lead the Trust-wide Patient Experience and Engagement Strategy, aligning with national policy, NHS Long Term Plan, and CQC Well-Led Framework. They will drive system-level collaboration with ICS partners, VCSE organisations, and community stakeholders to ensure inclusive engagement and co-production. The role includes oversight of patient feedback intelligence, complaints, PALS, volunteering, and public involvement functions, ensuring statutory compliance and continuous improvement. The Deputy Director will act as a principal advisor to the Executive Team and Board on patient experience and involvement in service delivery.

Main duties of the job

• Responsibility for Our Trust’s Patient Relations, Complaints, Patient and Carer Experience, Involvement and Volunteer services. Responsible for the strategic and operational management for the whole patient experience portfolio and for supporting the Trust to improve people’s experience of care leading the delivery of the patient experience strategy and objectives.  They will identify the support needs for improving relational care aspects of patient experience and identify resource requirements and actions needed to sustain improvements across the patient experience portfolio.  They will work in partnership with patients, the public and third sector organisations to embed learning and improvement from patients’ experiences across the Trust and will lead the delivery of a programme of service improvement targeted at priorities identified by patients and their families and carers as areas for action. Building and maintaining effective working relationships with internal and key external stakeholders.  Deal with highly sensitive complaints and contentious issues requiring a high degree of resilience, tact and diplomacy. The post holder will work closely with Care Group Nursing Directors and heads of services and the communications team to deliver a deeper understanding of the aims and values of patient experience which will inform the standards and behaviours that underpin a patient and family cantered approach to care which has compassion at its core.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Develop and implement a five-year Patient Experience & Engagement Strategy, ensuring alignment with ICS priorities and the NHS Ten Year Plan.
• Interpret and translate national policy and regulatory requirements into actionable Trust-wide frameworks
• Lead strategic planning for patient involvement, ensuring measurable improvements in experience and outcomes.
• Represent the Trust at local, regional and national forums, influencing policy and sharing best practice.
• Build strategic alliances with Healthwatch, local authorities, (VCSE) Voluntary Care Sector partners, and patient and carer groups.
• Ensure co-production and lived experience panels inform service redesign and transformation programmes.
• Provide Board-level assurance monthly reports on patient experience performance, equality impact, and engagement compliance.
• Develop and manage a responsive service to manage complaints, PALS, and patient feedback systems in a timely manner, ensuring learning is embedded in all governance processes.
• Benchmark Trust performance against peer organisations and lead improvement programmes across the Trust in collaboration with the Care Groups triumvirate.
• Drive digital inclusion and innovative engagement methods, including real-time feedback and virtual involvement platforms in collaboration with the patient engagement team to deliver timely responses in line with Trust values.
• Lead research and development initiatives to transform and advance patient experience methodologies as a major part of the role
• Deliver and support cultural change programmes to embed patient-centred care across all services, in partnership with Organisational Development teams