Join the team

Department: Healthwatch Lancashire

Reporting to: Healthwatch Lancashire Manager

Hours: 37.5hrs

Contract: Full-time (Permanent)

Salary: £27,558.68 (FTE)

Holiday Entitlement: 20 days (FTE) plus bank holidays and bonus Christmas closure, length of service increments, Birthday day off.

Location: Leyland (Healthwatch Lancashire Office)

Benefits: 6% pension employer contribution, values-based organisation, flexibility of working hours, extra day off for your birthday

Driving – is a car essential for this role?

A current driving licence and access to own transport is desirable but not required for this role.

You can be asked to travel to meetings; run business errands during the day; or travel between different People First business sites. Therefore, if you intend to use your car you are required to have the appropriate ‘business use’ insurance in place.

Mileage and expenses are paid while travelling on work business but not to and from your designated place of work.

Who we are

The Organisation

Healthwatch Lancashire is delivered by People First Independent Advocacy. People First is an independent customer-led charitable organisation that has worked in Cumbria for almost 32 years. We are passionate about our values of equality, respect, and inclusion. We provide a wide range of support and information services across Cumbria, Lancashire and Teesside, all aimed at helping people to live informed, respected, healthy and fulfilled lives. Our head office is based in Carlisle, supported by offices in Barrow and Lancashire. Find out more at: https://wearepeoplefirst.co.uk/about-us

The Department

Healthwatch Lancashire is an independent champion of the views of patients and people who use health and social care across the local authority area of Lancashire. Our goal is to make services better and improve health and wellbeing.

We work closely with health and social care services, service users, residents and families, members of the public, and employees working in these environments, with a key focus on engaging with hard to reach and seldom heard groups.

Our main activities include:

• Gathering information from patients and the public on the quality of health and social care services in Lancashire, highlighting local issues raised.
• Promoting involvement of people in the provision and scrutiny of local health and care services to deliver better and more joined-up services.
• Connecting with community groups and the voluntary sector, NHS partners and local authority.
• Carrying out Enter and View visits at a wide range of health and social care settings.
• Providing free information and signposting support to help people know about health and social care services, and understand the choices available.

You can find out more about us here: https://healthwatchlancashire.co.uk/

Purpose of the job:

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and driven Data & Research Team Leader to join our growing and ambitious organisation. In a fast-paced environment you will help us portray Healthwatch Lancashire in a vibrant and engaging way whilst increasing our voice and our reach.

The role of the Research and Data Team Leader will be to design and deliver a range of research and evaluation projects and to regularly monitor intelligence collated from local health and social care service users in order to identify areas of best practice and areas for improvement within the NHS and local authority.

This will include developing our project management, research and intelligence functions of the organisation and working closely with team members.

It will also include the sharing of research project outcomes in reports. The successful candidate will work with Communications and Administrative Co-ordinator to share their work with stakeholders and the public online and in-person.  

With energy and drive, you will co-ordinate our Healthwatch Lancashire team to deliver excellent, impactful and targeted work based on feedback and analysis.

Working with the Manager and alongside the Engagement Team Leader, you will create targeted Healthwatch workplans based on our strategic objectives and external Key Performance Indicators.

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience

• Ability to lead, line-manage and work as part of a team
• Excellent online and offline copywriting skills
• Enthusiasm, energy and a proactive “can-do” attitude
• Excellent IT skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, particularly Word, Excel and Outlook
• Ability to prioritise effectively to meet deadlines and ability to organise and prioritise own workload
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work well with others
• Commitment to equality and diversity with capacity to work with a diverse range of people
• Knowledge of GDPR regulations
• Practical experience of all stages of the research process including research design, fieldwork, analysis and report writing
• Experience of using analysis tools
• Excellent IT literacy – ability to use appropriate facets of Microsoft Office including Word, Outlook and Excel and survey software

Duties will include:

• To lead on the collation and analysis of a wide range of data and intelligence drawn from people’s experience of health and care services for Healthwatch Lancashire
• Regularly monitor and update Key Performance Indicators dashboard
• To plan, design and write high quality reports using case studies and data analysis to inform recommendations
• Line-manage members of the team and working collaboratively
• To co-design and deliver a range of research and evaluation projects
• To research and prepare literature reviews and briefings
• To prepare and deliver presentations to other health and social care organisations/working groups
• To co-design and manage the implementation of data collection methodologies
• To undertake qualitative and quantitative research including survey design, administration and analysis
• To attend steering group meetings for research projects
• To take part in engagement events and opportunities that support research projects
• To liaise and collaborate with all other staff and associates
• Monitor and analyse Healthwatch Lancashire feedback centre and track themes to regularly update the team shape future work

Other Duties

The duties outlined above are not intended to be exhaustive and may change as the needs of the organisation alter in line with current agendas. Due to the developing nature of our organisation, we ask staff to remain highly flexible in their approach, and work to meet the changing needs of the projects.

To Apply

To apply for this position, please email a copy of your CV including details of two references, to recruitment@wearepeoplefirst.co.uk, or alternatively, you can post for the attention of Barry to People First Conference Centre, Milbourne Street, Carlisle, CA2 5XB

If you would like an informal chat about the role please email manager Jodie at jodie@healthwatchlancashire.co.uk or call 01524 239100.

All applications should be clearly marked:

Confidential – Healthwatch Lancashire Research and Data Team Leader

To arrive no later than 5pm, Friday 14^th June 2024

Department: Healthwatch Lancashire

Reporting to: Healthwatch Lancashire Team Leader

Hours: 37.5hrs

Contract: Full-time (Permanent)

Salary: £23,400 (FTE)

Holiday Entitlement: 20 days (FTE) plus bank holidays and bonus Christmas closure, length of service increments, Birthday day off

Location: Leyland (Healthwatch Lancashire Office)

Benefits: 6% pension employer contribution, values-based organisation, flexibility of working hours, extra day off for your birthday

Driving – is a car essential for this role?

A current driving licence and access to own transport is desirable but not required for this role.

You can be asked to travel to meetings; run business errands during the day; or travel between different People First business sites. Therefore, if you intend to use your car you are required to have the appropriate ‘business use’ insurance in place.

Mileage and expenses are paid while travelling on work business but not to and from your designated place of work.

Who we are

The Organisation

Healthwatch Lancashire is hosted by People First Independent Advocacy. People First is an independent customer-led charitable organisation that has worked in Cumbria for almost 32 years. We are passionate about our values of equality, respect, and inclusion. We provide a wide range of support and information services across Cumbria, Lancashire and Teesside, all aimed at helping people to live informed, respected, healthy and fulfilled lives. Our head office is based in Carlisle, supported by offices in Barrow and Lancashire. Find out more at: https://wearepeoplefirst.co.uk/about-us

The Department

Healthwatch Lancashire is an independent champion of the views of patients and people who use health and social care across the local authority area of Lancashire. Our goal is to make services better and improve health and wellbeing.

We work closely with health and social care services, service users, residents and families, members of the public, and employees working in these environments, with a key focus on engaging with hard to reach and seldom heard groups.

Our main activities include:

• Gathering information from patients and the public on the quality of health and social care services in Lancashire, highlighting local issues raised.
• Promoting involvement of people in the provision and scrutiny of local health and care services to deliver better and more joined-up services.
• Connecting with community groups and the voluntary sector, NHS partners and local authority.
• Carrying out Enter and View visits at a wide range of health and social care settings.
• Providing free information and signposting support to help people know about health and social care services, and understand the choices available.

You can find out more about us here: https://healthwatchlancashire.co.uk/

The Person

For this role, we are looking for:

• A people person, someone who is empathetic and an active listener, sensitive to people’s life experiences and challenges, able to connect with hard to reach and seldom heard groups.

• A collaborative team member, someone who can work closely with others to provide consistent, effective and timely delivery of tasks, projects and events.

• Someone who is creative, confident and a self-starter when it comes to your own work, as well as being able to think innovatively.

• Healthwatch’s strength is its independence and political neutrality. You will need to be able to stay ‘on message’ when speaking for us and maintain confidentiality.

As the new Healthwatch Communications and Administrative Co-ordinator, you will be focused on portraying Healthwatch Lancashire in a vibrant and engaging way through impactful and targeted campaigns and content showcasing our work to increase our voice and reach.

This will involve working with the wider team to create a diverse range of digital and physical marketing plans and materials based on our strategic objectives and external Key Performance Indicators. This would include producing engaging social media campaigns, targeted e-marketing content, printed marketing materials and accessible website content to promote our work. As well as occasionally attending engagement events to take photos and support with project work.

You will also support team members, including the Healthwatch Manager and Director, to attend a variety of stakeholder meetings to represent Healthwatch Lancashire. Alongside, being responsible for answering public enquiries and providing signposting information that come through our social media channels, phone number and information email address.

It is an exciting and varied role, which gives you the chance to be creative and make a difference in our local area.

Qualifications                                                                                                           

• Educated to at least A-level, your skills, knowledge and experience are more important than exam certificates.

Skills, knowledge and experience

• Knowledge and understanding of local and national health and care services is advantageous.
• Great written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people and maintain positive working relationships.
• Acting as a brand ambassador when working with both internal and external partners.
• Familiarity with social media platforms (especially Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn) and experience of creating and posting social media content for maximum reach.

• Good IT literacy, particularly Word, PowerPoint and Excel, and a willingness to learn other programs e.g. WordPress website platform, Photoshop and Canva.
• Meticulous admin skills to write-up and log your activities.
• Excellent time management skills, with strong organisational skills with the ability to follow direction, work on own initiative and meet timescales.

• Creative problem-solver, with a proactive can-do attitude and an eye for detail.
• Self-starter, with the ability to work on your own initiative, as well as effectively be part of a team.
• Able to maintain confidentiality and work in a sensitive manner.

Duties will include:

Communication and Marketing duties

• Working as part of the Healthwatch Lancashire Team to contribute to the delivery of our marketing and comms strategy.
• Creating engaging digital content across a range of online channels such as a E-newsletters, social media and website content to grow the brand awareness of Healthwatch and campaigns
• We make use of online meetings, social media and our website to support engagement. We will provide training and an interest and willingness to learn are desirable for this position.
• Identifying promotional opportunities by engaging with the Healthwatch Team.
• Collecting insight and data from tools such as Metricool.
• Contributing to the maintenance of our websites to ensure that content is up-to-date, informative and accurate.
• Utilising knowledge of Canva to create and adapt marketing materials.
• Support 4 MNVP leads with social media and online presence, offering advice and ideas
• Collaborate with other local Healthwatch on comms and marketing

Administration duties

• To act as the first point of contact for office administrative communications, dealing with all such communications professionally, ensuring a prompt, efficient and customer friendly service is provided.
• To deal with highly confidential/contentious information in a discrete and appropriate manner.
• Gather, collate, and process administrative information in an efficient and effective manner.
• Monitor officer supplies and order as required
• Be proactive and act on own initiative to ensure that the organisation has appropriate administrative support.
• Take responsibility for day-to-day planning and prioritising of own workload.
• Organise meetings, including workshops, conferences/events that may be off site, securing venues, equipment, and refreshments.
• Any other duties of an administrative nature requiring initiative and independent judgement including diary management, drafting agendas, taking minutes etc.
• Provide assistance and advice to other members of staff regarding the operation, management, and effectiveness of the organisation’s administrative systems.
• Optimise the use of IT Technology applications by using all aspects of Microsoft Office applications.
• Support for administrative tasks for Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership

Other Duties

The duties outlined above are not intended to be exhaustive and may change as the needs of the organisation alter in line with current agendas. Due to the developing nature of our organisation, we ask staff to remain highly flexible in their approach, and work to meet the changing needs of the projects.

To Apply

To apply for this position, please email a copy of your CV including details of two references, to recruitment@wearepeoplefirst.co.uk, or alternatively, you can post for the attention of Barry to People First Conference Centre, Milbourne Street, Carlisle, CA2 5XB

If you would like an informal chat about the role please email manager Jodie at jodie@healthwatchlancashire.co.uk or call 01524 239100.

All applications should be clearly marked:

Confidential – Healthwatch Lancashire Communications and Administrative Co-ordinator  

To arrive no later than 5pm, Friday 14^th June 2024