Job summary
The Governance Officer will take responsibility for the management of the complaints and feedback process, incident and risk, and coordination of legal and inquest-related activities. This role is critical to maintaining effective compliant governance operations. The post holder will support the development of a culture committed to transparency, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.

This is a hybrid role requiring a combination of office-based and remote working. The successful candidate will be expected to work from the office 2-3 days per week, with the remaining days worked remotely, subject to operational requirements.

Main duties of the job
The Governance Officer will support the delivery of effective governance arrangements across PELC by managing complaints, incidents, risks, and patient feedback processes. The post holder will coordinate investigations, support legal and inquest activities, prepare governance reports and committee papers, and ensure actions arising from governance activities are tracked to completion. They will also support PSIRF processes, maintain governance records and inboxes, and contribute to quality improvement, patient safety, and organisational learning.

About us
PELC is a not-for-profit social enterprise that was formed in 2004 by a group of local GPs who wished to share resources to provide quality Out-of-Hours GP services for their local communities. Today, PELCs services extend across North East London, covering a population of over 2 million people in the region and employing more then 200 people. The range of integrated and urgent care services we provide includes Primary Care Out of Hours Services, Homeless Service, and the Urgent Care Centre at, Queens Hospital, Romford, King George's Hospital, Barking Community Hospital and Harold Wood Community Centre.

The formal structure of PELC is that of a Registered Society with a membership drawn from GPs, healthcare commissioners, patients and staff. The organisation reinvests all profits into improving its services, there are no shareholders. We have an extensive range of skills within our team including GPs, nurses, allied health professionals, reception staff, highly trained service co-ordinator , drivers and admin staff. We work collaboratively with commissioners and local NHS healthcare providers to provide integrated, high-quality care to the patients we serve.

We offer a supportive and friendly working environment including excellent training and although we are NOT an NHS employer, we provide automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.

Job responsibilities
Governance and Risk Management

• Identify and escalate risks arising from complaints and feedback for inclusion in the organisational risk register, ensuring alignment with internal protocols and managerial oversight.
• Coordinate reports to the Integrated Governance Committee (IGC), write minutes for the meeting, share meeting papers in a timely manner and follow up on actions from the meeting.
• Prepare Risk meeting papers, share meeting papers in a timely manner and follow up on actions from the meeting.
• Maintain management of risk documentation and contribute to risk mitigation process.

Complaint and Feedback Management

• Oversee the end-to-end complaints and feedback process, including:
• Acknowledgement of complaints
• Gathering staff statements and relevant clinical records
• Updating complaint records in the Datix system
• Draft responses to simple complaints and coordinate response preparation for complex clinical cases in collaboration with relevant leads.
• Record outcomes of investigations, identify learning, and ensure that all resulting actions are logged and tracked to completion.
• Organise and take minutes for second-stage complaints meetings.
• Respond to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) requests in coordination with the line manager and relevant operational leads.
• Manage the governance feedback inbox, ensuring effective triage and timely escalation of issues.
• Maintain a live tracking log of complaints, risks, and feedback actions to ensure resolution and learning are consistently implemented
• Key responsibilities include producing high-quality governance reports, managing complaint- second-stage complaints procedures, and ensuring the accurate and timely submission of documentation to internal and external as required

Incident and Investigation Management

• Prepare Incident review meeting papers, share meeting papers in a timely manner and follow up on actions from the meeting.
• Support immediate incident reviews and coordination of investigations in accordance with the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and duty of candour obligations.
• Collate and submit timely documentation for both internal and external investigations.
• Coordinate and support all meetings related to PSIRF methodologies
• Track and follow up on open improvement actions resulting from incidents, complaints, and claims, ensuring accountability and resolution.

Legal and Inquest Coordination

• Liaise with the Legal Services Team to facilitate staff involvement in inquests and legal proceedings.
• Ensure that all necessary documentation and statements are prepared to support litigation and inquest processes.
• Contribute to thorough investigations to support legal submissions in collaboration with corporate and clinical teams.

Reporting and Assurance

• Prepare governance papers for Quality and Safety Meetings and PSIRF Learning Panels.
• Support IGC meeting process by sending papers and taking minutes
• Coordinate the collation and analysis of reports related to audits, patient experience, complaints, and emerging themes.
• Support the implementation of quality improvement actions driven by complaints and governance data.

Safeguarding (Cover Duties)

• Provide cover for safeguarding governance responsibilities, including:
• Responding to CPIS alerts, missing persons, and safeguarding records requests
• Participating in safeguarding and risk compliance meetings
• Managing safeguarding inboxes and supporting internal safeguarding functions

Data Protection
PELC is registered under the Data Protection Act 1984. You must not at any time use the personal data held by PELC for a purpose not described in the Register entry or disclose such data to a third party. If you are in any doubt regarding what you should or should not do in connection with the Data Protection Act then you must contact the Senior ICT Lead/Manager.

Equal Opportunities
PELC is an Equal Opportunities employer and all employees are required to abide by and promote the policy and code of practice, as well as being aware of and operate within all relevant legislation.

Health & Safety
Employees must be aware of the responsibility placed on them under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) to maintain a healthy and safe working environment for both staff and visitors. Employees also have a duty to observe obligation under the PELC and departmental Health and Safety policies, and to maintain awareness of safe practices and assessment of risk.

Financial Regulations
All staff are responsible for security of the property of the PELC, avoiding loss or damage of property, and being economical and efficient in the use of resources. Staff should conform with the requirements of the standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions and other financial procedures including the Code of Conduct and Accountability and the Fraud and Corruption Policy.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Education: Degree level qualification.

Desirable

• PSIRF Training desirable.
• Masters level qualification desirable.

Skills
Essential

• Skills: Excellent communication, organisation, coordination and IT skills, ability to prioritise workload, analyse data and influence others.
• Personal Qualities: Flexible, adaptable, motivated, enthusiastic, able to work under pressure and both independently and as part of a team.

Experience
Essential

• Complaints management, incident management, NHS/primary care experience, risk management, safeguarding processes, claims and inquests, project/change management.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

PELC is an Equal Opportunities employer and all employees are required to abide by and promote the policy and code of practice, as well as being aware of and operate within all relevant legislation.