Issue 1, April 2013 | Download PDF
Featured story
More investigations for more people
How we can help
How we can help
Most of the time people have no reason to complain about public services. But when things do go wrong, it can be difficult to know how to go about making a complaint in the first instance and who to turn to next if you’re not happy with the outcome. We’re here to help resolve complaints when attempts to deal with them locally have failed.
Most of the time people have no reason to complain about public services. But when things do go wrong, it can be difficult to know how to go about making a complaint in the first instance and who to turn to next if you’re not happy with the outcome. We’re here to help resolve complaints when attempts to deal with them locally have failed.
From our casebook
An injustice that can never be put right: the loss of a much-loved family member
Good complaint handling needs to be at the heart of the new NHS. We are working with the Department of Health on the Clwyd and Hart review of NHS hospital complaints commissioned by David Cameron and with the NHS Commissioning Board to support the development of guidance on complaint handling for Clinical Commissioning Groups. We want to ensure that good complaint handling is embedded as the standard across the new NHS in England. Miss G’s story highlights the ongoing improvements required in the NHS for individuals with learning disabilities, a problem starkly set out in our 2009 report Six lives.
Good complaint handling needs to be at the heart of the new NHS. We are working with the Department of Health on the Clwyd and Hart review of NHS hospital complaints commissioned by David Cameron and with the NHS Commissioning Board to support the development of guidance on complaint handling for Clinical Commissioning Groups. We want to ensure that good complaint handling is embedded as the standard across the new NHS in England. Miss G’s story highlights the ongoing improvements required in the NHS for individuals with learning disabilities, a problem starkly set out in our 2009 report Six lives.
Marooned and penniless: administrative mistake by UKBA has personal consequences
The administrative giants, like the UK Border Agency and HM Courts and Tribunals Service, are familiar names in our casework. The themes we see tend to be ordinary ones of delay, failure to reply to their customers, or unclear information about what they expect from customers. But, as one Australian backpacker found out, sometimes ordinary mistakes can have big personal consequences.
The administrative giants, like the UK Border Agency and HM Courts and Tribunals Service, are familiar names in our casework. The themes we see tend to be ordinary ones of delay, failure to reply to their customers, or unclear information about what they expect from customers. But, as one Australian backpacker found out, sometimes ordinary mistakes can have big personal consequences.
New reports
Annual assessment of government complaint handling
Our report, Responsive and Accountable?, reveals how people are struggling to get government departments and public organisations to put right basic mistakes, causing distress, inconvenience and, in some cases, financial hardship. The report, our assessment of parliamentary complaint handling in 2011-12, shows just how difficult it can be to get your voice heard when things have gone wrong.
Our report, Responsive and Accountable?, reveals how people are struggling to get government departments and public organisations to put right basic mistakes, causing distress, inconvenience and, in some cases, financial hardship. The report, our assessment of parliamentary complaint handling in 2011-12, shows just how difficult it can be to get your voice heard when things have gone wrong.
Want to know more?
Contact us at:
Email:phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
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