Patient Advice and Liaison Service Advisor, Band 4

Job overview

Patient Advice and Liaison Service Advisor, Band 4 (30 hours a week)

Are you passionate about improving the experiences of patients and their families at some of their most vulnerable moments?

We are looking for a compassionate, organised and motivated individual to join our dynamic Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team as a PALS Advisor. This is a rewarding opportunity to make a real difference by supporting patients, carers and visitors to have their voices heard and their enquiries or concerns resolved quickly and effectively.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a large district general hospital in the South West, with a clear vision to provide the best care for everyone in our community. Our five-year strategy places the patient voice at the centre of everything we do, and PALS plays a critical role in delivering this ambition—ensuring we learn from feedback and continuously improve the quality of care we provide.

As a PALS Advisor, you will support the delivery of a high-quality, responsive and person-centred service. You will work closely with clinical and operational teams to manage concerns, provide advice, guidance and information. This is a varied role requiring excellent communication skills, emotional resilience and the ability to manage sensitive situations with empathy and professionalism.

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the PALS Manager, you will provide advice, support and guidance to patients, relatives and carers, ensuring their concerns are heard and responded to effectively.

This is a varied and fast-paced role requiring excellent communication, problem-solving and organisational skills. You will deliver an accessible and responsive service, listening to concerns and working with clinical teams to achieve timely, effective resolution, including managing issues in real time.

You will communicate via telephone, email, written correspondence and face-to-face, including visiting wards to support patients, carers and staff. The role requires empathy and resilience, as you will often support individuals in sensitive or emotionally challenging situations.

You will maintain accurate records using Trust systems, ensuring confidentiality and data quality, and support the identification of themes and learning from patient feedback.

As part of the Patient Experience team, you will contribute to the Trust’s commitment to place the patient voice at the centre of care and improve patient experience.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As a PALS Advisor, you will:

- Provide an accessible and responsive service, ensuring concerns and enquiries can be raised easily

- Triage concerns, identifying those for immediate resolution and those requiring escalation

- Listen, understand and respond to concerns with empathy and professionalism

- Gain consent and maintain confidentiality at all times

- Work collaboratively with clinical teams to support timely, effective resolution.

- Communicate by telephone, email, written correspondence and face-to-face, including managing sensitive or complex situations

- Use initiative, discretion and impartiality when handling challenging cases

- Visit wards and departments to support patients, carers and staff

- Maintain accurate records on Trust systems (Datix), ensuring high standards of data quality

- Signpost to appropriate internal and external services

- Support identification of themes, trends and risks to inform improvements in care

- Work within Trust policies and promote the work of PALS and the Patient Experience team

- Build partnerships to support diverse patient needs and contribute to quality improvement

- Undertake other duties appropriate to the role

Additional Contact Details

Katherine Holland

Head of Patient Experience

[email protected]