Statement from the Office of the Health Service Ombudsman in response to Complaints and Litigation.
The Health Committee’s report Complaints and Litigation brings together many voices and views on the system for handling NHS complaints. Together, they highlight some useful lessons for the NHS, the Government and for us.
The report includes three recommendations specifically for the Health Service Ombudsman (recommendations 9 – 11, page 48).
We accept the first two recommendations in full. We have already begun to revise the way in which our data on complaint handling is presented to the public and a fuller picture of our work to resolve complaints will be available in our Annual Report which will be published on 13 July 2011.
The feedback from the Committee, and others, on the use of the phrase ‘no worthwhile outcome’ in our communications is valuable and we will learn from it as we work to improve the service we offer to everyone who contacts us.
The report’s third recommendation, for a review of our legal framework to enable every complainant whose complaint is rejected by the service provider to seek independent review, is redundant and stems from a misunderstanding of the legal basis for our work. The Health Service Ombudsman already has the authority to review any complaint which is referred to her by a complainant following rejection by a service provider. We have informed the Committee of this error and hope that they will take steps to address the inaccuracy.
The system for handling NHS complaints is a complex one. We welcome the report’s endorsement of the current system’s design and potential, its emphasis on listening to patients and support for advocacy and the Committee’s call for a greater focus on complaints data and learning from complaints. We are committed to supporting further the implementation of the new system and to working with Parliament, the NHS, the Department of Health and patient advocates to achieve a speedy, and fair, resolution of patients’ complaints.
Notes to Editors:
- Ann Abraham holds the post of Health Service Ombudsman and is also the Parliamentary Ombudsman. She is appointed by the Crown and is completely independent of Government and the NHS. Her role is to provide a service to the public by undertaking independent investigations into complaints that government departments, a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the NHS in England, have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service.
- To contact the Health Service Ombudsman’s Press Office please call 0300 061 4996/3957 or email press@ombudsman.org.uk.
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