Patient Advisory Liaison Service - PALS (FOI)

Request

A

What is the function of the Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS)?

B

What is its relationship to Feedback?

C

What is the function of Feedback?

D

I require an organisational chart of the Patient Advisory Service and Feedback. Please..

E

Is there an independent complaints Ombudsman with remit to scrutinise the concerns of hospital patients over breaches by staff of the CFP and its associated staff manual (which acts as guidance to the working of the CPS)?

F

What is the relationship of PALS and the General Hospital?

G

Is the Customer Feedback Policy (CFP) being reviewed?

H

Which body wrote the staff manual providing guidance on the CFP and is the staff manual under review?

I

Which body oversees the CFP and who is responsible for ensuring that the CFP is followed?

J

Who is responsible for the supervision of the staff manual?

K

Is there another body that has the responsibility for hospital patient complaints?

L

Does judicial review apply to those persons working in PALS or Feedback who are in breach of CFP / staff manual?

Response

A

The Patient Advisory and Liaison Service (PALS) provides confidential and practical advice, support and information on service or care related matters in Health and Community Services (HCS). 

PALS can help you with:

• any questions or concerns you may have
• signposting you to other organisations
• keeping in touch with family and friends during this challenging time whilst visiting is restricted.

PALS is non-clinical so unable to offer counselling, diagnosis or any detailed medical information. However, PALS can put you in contact with the right services. PALS do not investigate complaints but focuses on resolving issues and can provide support, if necessary, to raise concerns or make a complaint. 

B

PALS works closely with Feedback to refer concerns that are required to be escalated to a complaint or to support any concerns that can be resolved more informally. 

C

As per the Customer Feedback Policy, staff whose duties include: 

• handling customer feedback
• treat all people with respect, including people who make complaints 
• assist people to give feedback, if needed 
• comply with the policy and its associated procedures 
• keep informed about best practice in complaint handling 
• provide feedback to management on issues arising from complaints 
• provide suggestions to management on ways to improve the organisation's feedback management system
• implement changes arising from individual complaints and from the analysis of complaint data as directed by management.
  

D

The PALs and Feedback Service in Health and Community Services is structured as follows:

 Structure Diagram

E

If the Government of Jersey complaints process above has been completed and issues have not been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, the next stage is independent external review by the States of Jersey Complaints Panel.

F

If a person would like to provide feedback or raise a concern about the hospital, PALS is a service that provides a confidential and practical advice, support and information on service or care related matters. PALS can support in raising concerns or making a complaint if there is a preference to speak to somebody not connected to the department. 

G

Yes. The policy is currently under review. It is reviewed annually to ensure that it is still fit for purpose giving the opportunity to enhance the processes we use to manage feedback.

H

The staff manual was written by Customer and Local Services, using learning from best practice examples of similar manuals elsewhere.  It had input from Departmental Feedback Managers across Government of Jersey. (GOJ).

I

The policy is overseen by the Customer Feedback Manager in Customer and Local Services with a network of Department Feedback Managers across all Government Departments. All Director Generals are responsible for ensuring that the policy is followed in their respective departments.

J

The staff manual is designed to support staff in managing feedback. It is there as a resource for them to reference and any support needed with using it will be provided by the relevant Department Feedback Managers or Government of Jersey Customer Feedback Manager.   The Government of Jersey Customer Feedback Manager is responsible for ensuring it is kept correct and up to date, and improving, if required, based on feedback from colleagues.  

K

As per Response E, if the Government of Jersey complaints process above has been completed and issues have not been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, the next stage is independent external review by the States of Jersey Complaints Panel.

L

The information requested is not “information held by a public authority”, and therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Article Applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.