PALS Officer
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Monthly Salary:
Posted on:
Yesterday
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Overview
Post Title | Grade V PALS Officer |
Post Status | Permanent |
Department | PALS (Patient Advisory Liaison Service) Department |
Location | Beaumont Hospital Dublin 9 |
Reports to | PALS Manager |
Salary | Appointment will be made on Grade V (52235 - 62485) at a point in line with government pay policy |
Hours of Work | Full-time - 35 hours |
Closing Date | 4th March 2026 @ 12 noon Please note the hospital reserves the right to close the competition early should a substantial number of applications be received. |
Position Summary:
Beaumont Hospital values all feedback received from service users and is committed to responding to patient feedback both positive and negative. Patient complaints are managed within the Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) department in line with the Beaumont Hospital policy RCSI Hospital Group (RCSI HG) policy and the HSE Your Service Your Say (YSYS) policy with data collected and analysed monthly to identify themes and trends. The hospital endeavors to respond to patient concerns and identify and manage any deviation from high quality care.
Using this patient feedback we make improvements to services where possible. We are committed to fostering a culture of open disclosure and patient partnership that encourages service users to raise concerns and provide feedback (Office of the Ombudsman 2015) and resolve issues in a timely manner to bring about positive change within our services.
Patient experience and observation provide valuable insight into how we function as an organisation. Feedback from patients and relatives provides information that can lead to service improvement and meaningful engagement with those in receipt of care.
Engaging with our patients is also a requirement of the HIQA National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare and is mandated by statutory agencies such as the Office of the Ombudsman.
- Beaumont Hospital is committed to fostering a culture of open disclosure and patient partnership that encourages service users to raise concerns and provide feedback.
- The PALS department are committed to resolving these issues in a timely manner in order to respond to the complainant and bring about positive change within the hospital.
- PALS manage and record all complaints and feedback from service users in line with the Beaumont Hospital Complaints Policy (available on QPULSE).
- PALS analyse data collected to identify themes and trends within complaints. We then liaise with revelant department leads in order to drive quality improvement and initiate change (quarterly reports).
- PALS provide advice and support to staff who are responding to complaints and going through the complaint process
Responsibilities
Principal duties and responsibilities:
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers support advice and information on Beaumont Hospital services to patients relatives staff and the general public.
It is a dynamic evolving service which will offer an enthusiastic candidate the opportunity to be innovative and effect further development and change.
The current role involves a number of components:
- Meeting with patients relatives and carers to listen and advise in relation to resolving their issues locally and if required support in pursuing with a formal complaint.
- Enhancement of patient advocacy within the hospital.
- Further development of involving staff in the complaint process - to promote ownership effective resolution and learning from patient feedback.
- Working as a member of the PALS team in the management of the complaint process within the guidelines of the Beaumont Hospital policy and national policy.
Support innovative projects aimed at organisational learning from patient feedback within the PALS Department in conjunction with the PALS Manager and Deputy Manager.
Complaint handling:
- Ensure Beaumont Hospitals complaint policy is adhered to and meet KPIs as set out in the national and local complaint policy.
- Listening to patient concerns suggestions and experiences and forwarding these to the relevant staff involved in managing and designing services in the hospital in liaison with the PALS Manager and Deputy Manager for response or action.
- Providing information and support in relation to the hospital complaints policy.
- Co-ordinating and as necessary conducting family meetings in accordance with policy requirements and drafting responses on behalf of the hospital to formal complaints.
- Liaise with the PALS Manager & Deputy Manager to evaluate and escalate potentially serious complaints and working with the PALS Manager manage the expectations of the patients and the staff during the resolution of the complaint handling.
- Develop a broad depth of knowledge and understanding of how statutory agencies perform their function when dealing with serious complaints and understanding the significance of their interaction with the hospital.
- In liaison with the PALS Manager Deputy Manager and PALS team continuing to improve complaint handling and related information within the organisation.
- In liaison with the PALS Manager and Deputy Manager further develop the use of complaint information proactively as a tool to identify trends and patterns of risk and concern and take appropriate action with the relevant personnel.
- In liaison with the PALS Manager and Deputy Manager improve the communication of complaint and patient feedback trends to directorate teams to facilitate service improvement.
- In liaison with the PALS team interact with patients and relatives proactively to address their concerns in an effort to resolve issues prior to them proceeding to the formal complaint process.
- In liaison with the PALS Team to further develop Patient feedback opportunities across the organisation.
Work with and develop a good working relationship with the broad spectrum of staff within the QPS Directorate to develop a culture of patient engagement.
Skills and Qualities:
- Excellent verbal communication skills and previous experience directly interacting with service users would be an advantage.
- Excellent administrative skills and proficiency in using Beaumont Hospital IT systems would be an advantage.
- Motivated to work both at an individual level and as part of a team.
- Administrative capacity to discharge the functions of the Grade V PALS administrator.
Qualifications
Selection Criteria:
Selection criteria outline the qualifications skills knowledge and/or experience that the successful candidate would need to demonstrate for successful discharge of the responsibilities of the post. Applications will be assessed on the basis of how well candidates satisfy these criteria.
Mandatory 1. Professional Qualifications Experience etc (a) Eligible applicants will be those who on the closing date for the competition: (i) Have satisfactory experience as a Clerical Officer in the HSE TUSLA other statutory health agencies or a body which provides services on behalf of the HSE under Section 38 of the Health Act 2004 Or (ii) Have obtained a pass (Grade D) in at least five subjects from the approved list of subjects in the Department of Education Leaving Certificate Examination including Mathematics and English or Irish1. Candidates should have obtained at least Grade C on higher level papers in three subjects in that examination. Or (iii) Have completed a relevant examination at a comparable standard in any equivalent examination in another jurisdiction Or (iv) Hold at least level 6 on the National Qualifications Framework maintained by Qualifications and Quality Ireland (QQI) or equivalent. Note 1: Candidates must achieve a pass in Ordinary or Higher level papers. A pass in a foundation level paper is not acceptable. Candidates must have achieved these grades on the Leaving Certificate Established programme or the Leaving Certificate Vocational programme. The Leaving Certification Applied Programme does not fulfil the eligibility criteria And (b) Candidates must possess the requisite knowledge and ability including a high standard of suitability for the proper discharge of the office. This is a customer facing position therefore the ideal candidate will possess the natural ability to communicate with patients and their families with empathy being at the core of the required skills Minimum of two years working in a Hospital Excellent communication skills Knowledge of the complaint management policy Excellent administrative skills and proficiency in using Beaumont Hospital IT Systems Proven record of administrative capacity to discharge the functions of the PALS Office Proven Excel Power Point and general Microsoft Word expertise. |
Desirable Patient advocacy qualified Experience in complaint handling desirable |
Further Information for Candidates:
Supplementary information:
The Hospital | ||
Management unit |
Informal enquiries ONLY to: (please note no applications will be accepted via the informal enquiries email);
Name: | Ciara ORourke PALS Manager Ph: |
Required Experience:
Unclear Seniority
Key Skills
- CCTV
- Federal Agencies
- Customer Service
- Clearance
- Facility
- Suspicious Activity
- Property Damage
- Public Safety
- Daily Operations
- Professional Development
- Access Control
- Communication
- General Public
- Procedures
- Powerpoint
