Patient Advice and Liaison Service Officer

As a Patient Advice and Liaison Service Officer, you'll be a friendly and accessible point of contact for people who need information, guidance or help with concerns about their care. You'll listen carefully, investigate issues, work with healthcare teams to find solutions, and ensure patients' feedback helps services improve. It's an ideal role for someone who enjoys helping people, solving problems and making a positive difference to patient experiences.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service Officer is also known as PALS Officer, Advisor, Guidance Officer.

Role Characteristics

Help patients understand the NHS complaints procedure
Work with staff, managers and support groups to solve problems
Provide information about local services, including voluntary and statutory agencies
Provide high quality guidance and support to Directorates on resolving complaints and concerns
Run PALS surgeries on wards and at other locations where services are delivered, to listen to patients about any concerns and to try and resolve these
Supervise and coordinate PALS volunteers

Skills

Active listening
Advice giving
Communication
Customer service
Problem-solving
Working with groups

Day in the life

Watch this video to learn about the role of Patient Advice and Liaison Service.

Routes into this role

Here are some example routes that can lead into this role.

Volunteering or work experience

GCSEs

Pre-employment Programmes

An apprenticeship

BTEC, T-Level or A-Levels

Apply directly

How to become

There are several ways to start a career as a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) Officer, whether you're leaving education, looking for your first job or changing careers.

Here are some ideas, and you can explore current opportunities in the section below.

Study a course or qualification – useful qualifications include GCSEs in English and Maths, health and social care, as well as T Levels and BTECs in subjects like business administration, public services, or customer service. These can all help you to develop knowledge, skills and prepare for work.
Volunteer – for a hospital charity, health charity, community organisation, advice service or patient support group to
Build workplace experience – this could be paid work, volunteering, or completing work experience online or in person. Experience in customer service, administration, reception, healthcare, advice services or community support can help you develop the skills needed for a PALS role. Hospital charities, health chariities, or community organisations are also good places to look. This experience is important in a PALS role, showing you have started developing your skills in communication, active listening, empathy, problem-solving, teamwork and customer service.
Complete a pre-employment programme – a short course which supports you to gain confidence, skills and experience helping you prepare for work.
Apprenticeships – you can gain relevant experience in the workplace whilst also studying a qualification in subjects like Business Administration, Customer Service, Healthcare Support, or Health and Social Care.
Applying directly – employers will want you to have good English, maths and IT skills. This doesn't always mean you need a qualification, but you may need to do an assessment or skills test.
Moving from another role – think about how you'll be able to transfer your skills in customer service, administration, communication, complaint handling, advocacy, healthcare support or reception work into a Patient Advice and Liaison Service Officer role. Are there any skills you need to particularly focus on building, such as understanding healthcare services, handling sensitive conversations or investigating concerns?

Where can this role lead

A Patient Advice and Liaison Service Officer develops skills that can open up a wide range of opportunities across health and care. You might choose to specialise in supporting specific patient groups as an Advocacy Worker, Addiction and Recovery Support Worker, or a Peer Support Worker.

With additional experience and training, you could move into roles such as Care Navigator, Health Trainer, Community Development Support Worker, Employment Advisor or Debt Advisor, using your knowledge of services and your ability to guide and support people. If you enjoy improving services and resolving complex issues, you could progress into senior patient experience, complaints, engagement or service improvement roles. You may also look at progressing into a HR role, such as a Human Resources Officer, where you may continue to investigate complex situations, offer advice, and work to uphold your organisations policy and legal obligations.

Location

GP Practices
Hospitals
Community Settings

Working hours

Weekdays
Part Time
Full Time
Flexible Hours

Opportunities

Courses

Customer Service Pre-Employment Programme

This is an exciting opportunity for anyone who is looking to take their first step into an administration role within the health and care sector.

Organisation: Leeds Health and Care Talent Hub

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Volunteering

Volunteering in Health and Care

Find out more about volunteering opportunities in Health and Care

Organisation: Volunteering Opportunities

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Apprenticeships

Business Administration Courses

This course is delivered using a blended delivery model, our Assessor will deliver this apprenticeship in the workplace with optional study days available at Bradford College.

Organisation: Bradford College

View opportunity