Patient advocacy and policy officer jobs

Healthwatch

Healthwatch was set up in 2013 to champion the rights of health and social care users, and hold the health and social care system to account for how well it engages with the public.

Healthwatch has a remit which covers all publicly funded health and social care services for adults and children.

The Advocacy Project delivers Healthwatch Brent, Healthwatch Westminster and Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea – three of 152 local Healthwatch organisations. We’re building on the important work that’s been done to date, while bringing new insights from the voices of seldom heard and hard to hear groups.

About the role

In this role you will promote Healthwatch to local residents and stakeholders, and support people to get involved in our work. You’ll be a skilled communicator, comfortable networking and engaging with a diverse range of local residents. This role is primarily based in Westminster, and we’re looking for someone who can understand and relate to the diverse local population.

Your role will involve finding innovative ways to present the information the team gathers to key audiences. This will range from face-to-face conversations with partners and funders through to producing imaginative materials. This includes producing accessible reports and presentations to make sure we can maximise the impact of people’s feedback.

You’ll be responsible for a variety of internal and external communications for the Healthwatch Westminster producing impactful communications across all platforms including our website, social media channels and newsletter. You’ll also produce informative and engaging content for our websites, keeping it fresh and relevant for our diverse audiences.

As well as developing our online presence, you’ll own the Westminster engagement plan. This will involve identifying engagement opportunities, working with the Volunteer Coordinator to ensure we have good coverage at events across the borough, and getting out into the local community to promote our service and hear from local residents.

Working as part of a small team, you’ll be involved in many aspects of the organisation. You’ll need to be flexible, with a ‘can do’ attitude to meet the evolving needs of the service. You will need to work in close collaboration with our other Healthwatch services in Kensington & Chelsea and Brent, and occasionally support communications and engagement in those areas when the need arises.

Key responsibilities

Engagement

î  Develop a vibrant engagement plan for Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea, ensuring that we reach a wide range of residents from different communities, with an emphasis on those most likely to experience poor health outcomes.

î  Develop effective relationships with local voluntary organisations and community groups to promote the Healthwatch service and carry out engagement activities and signposting sessions.

î  Practice culturally responsive engagement, demonstrating the ability to communicate and effectively interact with people across cultures with diverse protected characteristics, whilst maintaining openness and showing respect to people who have a different social or cultural background to your own.

î  Keep abreast of good engagement practice and actively seek out innovative ways to capture and express people’s views/experiences, including engagement techniques appropriate to different audiences.

î  Work in partnership with local community groups to support engagement in projects, including coproduction and joint communications.

î  Take a lead role in making sure all Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea activities involve people from all sections of the community, including seldom-heard communities.

î  Work closely with the Volunteer Coordinator to ensure that volunteers are able to participate in engagement plans.

Communications

î  Create engaging and up-to-date digital media content across all digital channels, including web content, Twitter and Facebook.

î  Create regular newsletters and e-bulletins, circulating these to key stakeholders to support engagement.

î  Design reports, presentations and stationery templates for the Healthwatch service, making sure all materials keep to the Healthwatch brand guidelines.

î  Answer and respond appropriately to calls about the service, seeking guidance from the team where appropriate to give signposting support via phone and email.

î  Keep up to date with best practice from Healthwatch England, by reading, attending courses and networking.

î  Carry out any other tasks needed for the service to run smoothly, as directed by the Healthwatch Manager.

General responsibilities

î  Participate in team meetings, training and organisational development.

î  Contribute to monitoring reports.

î  Keep to our policies, including health & safety, safeguarding and risk regulations.

î  Work to our mission, vision, and values.

î  Work flexibly to meet the needs of the service, in line with the changing local and national landscape and carry out other projects and tasks as needed.

Person specification

Essential

î  Good understanding of the NHS / social care, in particular the importance of patient voice and engagement for improving and developing services

î  Experience of carrying out community engagement

î  Experience producing communication materials for a variety of channels and audiences

î  Experience of working with diverse communities, particularly in Kensington & Chelsea/ North West London

î  Good understanding of health inequality and the role Healthwatch can play in reducing this.

î  Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders ranging from local residents, colleagues, partners, trustees and commissioners.

î  Excellent organisational skills, ability to take initiative and plan your own workload.

î  Commitment to working within The Advocacy Project and Healthwatch code of conduct, equality and safeguarding policies.

î  Willingness to attend further training and to adopt new procedures.

î  Willingness to promote Healthwatch and The Advocacy Project in line with our mission, vision and values

Desirable

î  Evidence of ongoing personal development and training related to the role.

î  Previous experience of working within a Healthwatch service.

î  Experience of creating visual content such as digital graphics or video.

Benefits of working for us

We’re committed to providing an empowering, flexible and supportive working environment for all our staff.

Our employee benefits include 30 days annual leave (including up to 3 days between Christmas and New Year), participation in a pension scheme with 6% employer contribution, access to a free confidential counselling service, and an interest-free travel/bike loan.

All our staff are supported to learn and develop in a variety of ways, including a monthly lecture series where we invite sector experts to talk to our staff on topical issues.

We are a Disability Confident Committed and Mindful Employer.

We are seeking a dynamic, strategic, and highly organised individual with either registered healthcare status or an experienced commissioner of healthcare services and a passion for supporting people with long-term health conditions like ME.

As Clinical Lead, you will play a pivotal role in the delivery and development of our Healthcare Services. As our CQC Registered Manager, you will play a critical role in supporting the team and assuring effective and safe services for people with ME of all ages and their families.

Reporting to the Director of Operations, you will also play a pivotal role in developing our services, drive performance and optimise processes, and enhance service delivery to take action with impact to better support individuals living with ME.

Job Purpose   

Working closely with the Director of Operations, the Clinical Lead will play a pivotal role in leading and developing Action for ME’s clinical Healthcare Services, ensuring the highest standards of clinical care for individuals affected by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). The postholder will be responsible for clinical oversight, service development, and leadership, working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to enhance outcomes for children and adults with ME and will be the CQC Registered Manager for the service.  

At present, Healthcare Services is a small team with two physiotherapists and one doctor (specialist GP), with plans to recruit more.

We are keen to develop and expand our services, building on the small amount of spot purchasing from local commissioning boards and exploring a diagnosing and prescribing offer. We are also keen to explore the potential of increasing the range of disciplines offered within the team. You will play a key role in contributing to, and delivering, the strategy for our Healthcare Services.  

Key Responsibilities  

• Provide clinical support and expertise to Action for ME's Healthcare Services, ensuring evidence-based, person-centred care.  
• Act as Registered Manager for CQC (Care Quality Commission) purposes and ensure that the service meets all required standards.   
• Lead the development and implementation of clinical policies, protocols, and best practices in line with national guidelines and regulatory requirements.  
• Supervise and support healthcare professionals within the service, offering guidance, mentorship, and training.  
• Collaborate with external stakeholders, including NHS services, researchers, and others, to enhance healthcare provision for people with ME.  
• Ensure the service complies with regulatory and safeguarding standards, including CQC requirements where applicable.  
• Monitor and evaluate service delivery, using data-driven insights to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience.  
• Provide expert advice on complex cases, supporting the team with clinical decision-making.  
• Designated Safeguarding Officer for Healthcare Services.   
• Represent Action for ME at external forums, conferences, and policy discussions.   

Person specification
All criteria noted below are essential requirements of the role.

Qualifications

• A registered healthcare professional (e.g., doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, or occupational therapist) with active professional registration (GMC, NMC, HCPC or equivalent) OR an experienced commissioner of healthcare services with experience of quality assurance, safeguarding and compliance. 

Experience and Knowledge

• Extensive clinical experience in chronic illness management OR sound understanding of clinical practice, ideally with expertise in ME or related conditions and a clear understanding of the challenges faced by people with ME.  
• An understanding of Care Quality Commission regulatory requirements.
• Proven leadership experience in a healthcare setting, including team management and service development.  
• Strong understanding of evidence-based practice and clinical governance.  
• A sound understanding and experience of safeguarding children/young people and vulnerable adults.
• Experience in training and mentoring healthcare professionals.  
• Knowledge of NHS structures and commissioning processes.  
• An understanding of working within the third sector or charitable organisations.

Skills and Behaviours

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with patients, carers, and healthcare professionals.  
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary environment.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (including Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams) and the ability to quickly learn relevant bespoke software systems.

Attitudes

• Commitment to patient-centred care and advocacy for people with ME.  

Leukaemia UK – Our Charity
We are a ‘small but mighty’ charity with one big ambition: to stop leukaemia devastating lives. Over the next 10 years we want to help save and improve the lives of more people with leukaemia through funding life-changing research and campaigning for change. Despite decades of incredible progress, only half of leukaemia patients live longer than five years after their diagnosis. We won't stop until we change this.

We are looking for a Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager to join the Policy and Advocacy team. At a pivotal moment for Leukaemia UK, they will lead and manage our political influencing work, ensuring our profile and reputation remains high and we are able to influence political decisions.

With our new strategy period beginning in 2027, over the next 5 years we plan to increase our investment into ground-breaking research and campaigning to improve diagnosis, treatment and care. We are in a period of significant growth, investing to grow our income, profile, influence, engagement and impact.

Having developed our policy, public affairs and campaigns function over the current strategy period, this role will help take this to the next level and play a key role in strengthening our ability to influence change across the UK.

Team

We are a close-knit team, who are all passionate about Leukaemia UK and putting those affected by the disease at the heart of everything we do. We are all focused on pragmatic, practical solutions, as well as ensuring that our charity gets the funding it needs to continue to help those diagnosed with leukaemia and related conditions.

As a small organisation with just over 30 employees, every role counts. We have ambitious plans and we rely on individuals being self-starters, resilient and used to working at pace to maximise our collective impact. We are all about delivering exceptional expertise and making a real change to people’s lives.

Leukaemia UK and You

We are looking for a self-motivated Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager to join our team, taking a leading role in shaping and delivering Leukaemia UK’s influencing and campaigning activity to drive policy change. The successful candidate will be an innovative, driven and forward-thinking individual with a proven track record of delivering impactful public affairs and campaigning work within the health charity sector. You will work closely with the Head of Policy and Advocacy and the Policy Officer to ensure a coordinated, insight‑led and strategically aligned approach to policy development, public affairs and campaigning activity across the organisation.

The Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager will be instrumental in strengthening and growing the charity’s profile, influence and impact among political stakeholders and senior civil servants across all four UK administrations. This role will ensure that the ‘patient voice’ is heard and acted upon by key decision-makers, while also ensuring that the needs and priorities of individuals affected by leukaemia are understood, represented, valued and embedded within our influencing and campaigning strategies.

Alongside this, you will lead the development of creative and innovative campaigning approaches, using a range of tactics to effectively engage supporters, partners and policy makers in our work. You will create compelling opportunities for stakeholders to join our efforts to drive policy change, and ensure that our campaigns are visible, impactful and aligned to our policy priorities.

You will work closely with the Communications team to ensure that campaigning to drive policy change is clearly understood, amplified and embedded across digital channels and content strategies, maximising reach, engagement and impact. You will also support with identifying and developing new opportunities for PR, media engagement and thought leadership to strengthen Leukaemia UK’s position as a credible and influential voice in the sector. You will be representing Leukaemia UK in multiple charity coalitions and forums to ensure that leukaemia is represented on the political agenda.

The successful candidate will be adept at articulating evidence-based policy positions to policy makers, healthcare professionals, researchers, effectively representing the perspectives of those affected by leukaemia. They will have the ability to influence a wide range of senior stakeholders to drive progress and bring about meaningful change. A strong understanding of the external political landscape, coupled with exceptional communication skills and attention to detail, is essential.

This role does not currently include direct line management responsibility but will play a key role in coordinating activity across the Policy and Advocacy function, with potential to take on management responsibilities as the team grows.

Experience and skills

Essential 

• Experience of working within public affairs and/or campaigning, with demonstrable impact in influencing policy or driving change (candidates should have strong experience in at least one of these areas, with an understanding of how they work together)
• Experience of influencing government, policy makers and/or decision makers, preferably within the health, research or charity sector
• Experience of developing and delivering public affairs and/or campaigning strategies, including planning, delivery and evaluation
• Experience of engaging and managing a range of stakeholders, including policy makers, partners, and supporters
• Experience of producing high-quality written outputs such as briefings, consultation responses, or campaign materials to influence decision makers
• Experience of working collaboratively across teams, particularly with communications functions
• Experience of monitoring and evaluating activity to assess impact and inform future approaches
• Experience of delivering multiple projects and programmes in a fast-paced environment

Desirable

• Experience of integrating campaigning with digital, PR or communications strategies
• Experience of identifying PR, media or thought leadership opportunities
• Experience of working in the cancer or wider health policy environment
• Experience of line management or supporting others’ development

Knowledge and personal traits

Essential

• Strong understanding of the UK political and policy landscape, including how decisions are made and influenced
• Understanding of how public affairs and campaigning can work together to drive change, including supporter engagement and mobilisation
• Ability to think strategically and identify opportunities to influence policy and public debate
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex issues clearly to different audiences
• Strong relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders with differing perspectives
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• A strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and an understanding of the importance of engaging with patients and underrepresented groups
• A proactive, collaborative and solutions-focused approach, with the ability to work at pace

Desirable

• Knowledge of the cancer, research or NHS policy landscape
• Experience of working with patients or in an advocacy capacity

Role Specifics

• Full time: 37.5 hours per week, worked Monday to Friday.
• Location: We are very flexible! Our offices are based in Central London, and we operate hybrid working.  In this role you are required to work from the office at least one day per fortnight and as appropriate, to  undertake the proper performance of the role duties regarding internal and external meetings and activities.
• Annual Salary: £40,000 - £50,000

Benefits- We are proud of our benefits

• 36 days holiday per year, including bank holidays- pro rata for part time employees
• Pension – default is 4% employee and 4% employer and we match up to 6%
• Life Assurance – x 4 cover
• Critical Illness Cover
• Cash back healthcare scheme & Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Hybrid Working
• Company sick pay
• Individual training budgets

Applications and interview timings 

If you feel you have the passion for our work and the right mix of experience, skills, energy, and flair, then we would love you to apply. Please also see the full job description attached to the advert.  To minimise unconscious bias, we use anonymous recruitment and are unable to consider direct applications. Please apply via the CharityJob website with your CV and covering letter.

Closing Date: 9am Monday 22nd June 2026

• First interviews will be held via Teams on Thursday 2nd July 2026
• Second interviews will be face to face in our London Offices – at 26 Great Queen St, London WC2B 5BL on Thursday 9th July 2026

I look forward to hearing from you! 

Georgia

Georgia Papacleovoulou

Head of Policy & Advocacy

Leukaemia UK