Patient and Family Liaison Clinician

Job overview

Patient and Family Liaison Clinician opportunity – Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance - Patient and Family Liaison Clinician - Band 7, 0.5 WTE (18.75 hours p/w) – 2 year Fixed Term Contract

DSAA are offering an exciting two-year Fixed term contract for registered nurses or paramedics with extensive experience of working within Critical Care, Emergency Care or Acute Trauma. This is a unique and rewarding role for a dynamic and motivated individual seeking to broaden their experience and practice throughout the entire patient pathway - from pre-hospital emergencies to rehabilitation and recovery. After the 2 years, a substantive role may be available.

The advertised role will support the DSAA Patient and Family Liaison Team to care for patients treated by DSAA who have ongoing care in hospitals in Poole, Bournemouth, Salisbury and Southampton.

Closing date for this role is 24th May 2026 . The selection day for the role will start at 08:00 on 3rd June at Henstridge airfield, John Porters Avenue, Henstridge marsh, A30, BA8 0TN. The day will comprise a morning of scenario assessments and a formal interview in the afternoon. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

For more information, an informal chat about the role, please email the Patient and Family Liaison Team Leader on [email protected] or call Kirsty on 07721112118

Main duties of the job

DSAA provided Prehospital Critical Care for 1700 patients in 2025. The service is charity funded and clinically governed by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST).

Many of the patients treated by DSAA are so severely injured or ill that they do not recall the events or clinical care provided on scene. Many patients suffer life changing injuries and effects from their experiences.  As a result of their injuries or illness our patients have to endure enormous physical and mental challenges and require highly specialised support to bridge the gap between pre-hospital critical illness, rehabilitation and recovery. We attend a large number of patients who die and their families previously did not understand the Critical Care that was provided to their loved one in the pre-hospital domain.

The DSAA Patient and Family Liaison team provide complex emotional support and guidance for our patients and families following their pre-hospital critical care experience. As well as explaining the Critical Care provided on scene, they provide ongoing signposting and referrals within the regional networks, the wider NHS and relevant charitable organisations.

A detailed working knowledge and experience in advanced Critical Care practice is required for this role.  Specifically, the ability to analyse and interpret complex clinical and non-clinical facts in a range of settings in order to meet the ongoing needs of patients and families is crucial

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The DSAA Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians are required to regularly visit patients in hospital in addition to ongoing contact in person with patients and families in a residential setting following their injuries or illness. This are required to drive to visit patients throughout the region. The DSAA Patient and Family Liaison team comply with the SWAST Lone Working policy and carry out Risk Assessments prior to performing a lone visit to private residential settings.

The role requires knowledge of Critical Care pathways within hospitals and throughout the region. The Patient and Family Liaison Clinician will need to work autonomously and create networks within hospital clinical teams and throughout the regional clinical networks. While working autonomously, the Clinician will practice within the governance structure of SWAST, the wider NHS and DSAA.

The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians meet with families of patients who have suffered life changing injuries or sometimes died on scene despite the best efforts of the critical care from DSAA, in order to support their understanding of the critical care provided to their loved ones. The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians provide specialist bereavement support to these families incorporating multidisciplinary working to include aspects of care from police and coroner’s services.

The Patient and Family Liaison Clinician role requires empathy and highly developed communication skills and the ability to manage and relay sensitive information to families including those receiving life changing news.

The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians are required to utilise skills in psychological assessment and clinical judgement to assess and refer patients or families to further specialist services eg: Pain clinics or Psychology services.

The Patient and Family Liaison team provide a visible, tangible, human face to DSAA Critical Care Team within hospital clinical environments and therefore bridge the gap between prehospital and in-hospital Critical Care. Clinical feedback provided by the Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians to the DSAA Critical Care Team provides valuable information to support service improvement and develop clinical practice. The resilience and sustainability of the DSAA team (clinical, aviation and charity) benefits from the holistic perspective that the Patient and Family Liaison Team bring to DSAA operations.

The Patient and Family Liaison clinicians are expected to develop DSAA’s Standard Operating Procedures from a patient and family liaison perspective.

The Patient and Family Liaison team take an active role in monthly DSAA clinical governance days and present clinical follow up information on cases being reviewed and audited.  They attend and present to regional trauma and critical care network meetings.

The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians direct patients to relevant DSAA charity staff if patients indicate any desire to support the DSAA charity in fundraising or other awareness campaign initiatives. The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians advise the DSAA charity staff on how best to manage the needs of patients. Establish and maintain clear guidance for ethical management of the relationship between charity and clinical teams with regards to Patient and Family Liaison.

The Patient and Family Liaison Clinicians are required to share their experience of the role with colleagues in other services such as Police Family Liaison or other Air Ambulances nationally. This may include presenting to large groups of professionals in order to provide persuasive and reassuring evidence of the benefits of the role to patients and families, in order to encourage collaborative working.