Issue 1, April 2013
More investigations for more people
From this week (2nd April) we are changing the way we deal with complaints about government departments, other central government organisations and the NHS in England. Our new approach means we’ll be conducting full investigations into thousands more complaints each year.
As well as helping to resolve more individual problems, we’ll be able to ensure that more learning from complaints is fed back to public service providers, to help them improve everyone’s experience of public services.
We’re the final step in the process for anyone wanting to complain about central government services and the NHS in England. We were set up by Parliament 45 years ago to give a voice to anyone who has been struggling to get their complaint heard. Crucially, we are independent of Government and of the hundreds of organisations we have the power to investigate complaints about, and our service is free to everyone. From families struggling on low incomes to farmers frustrated by bureaucracy, from the carers of elderly parents to couples seeking fertility treatment, we help to put things right for individuals and communities when public services have failed them. Throughout our history, our investigations and reports have shown what it’s like to be the member of the public at the sharp end. Our work has led to improvements in the delivery of services, shaped public policy and generally helped to make things better.
As well as helping to resolve more individual problems, we’ll be able to ensure that more learning from complaints is fed back to public service providers, to help them improve everyone’s experience of public services.
But we want to do more. Our new strategy explains what we plan to achieve in the next five years, and our strategic plan, which we will publish soon, will explain how. Our new approach to complaints, which will see us investigating many more individual grievances starting from this week, is one example of how we are changing the way we work, so that we can have more impact for more people.
Previously we did a lot of preliminary work on complaints before deciding whether we needed to carry out an investigation. Now, provided a complaint meets some basic tests, we will usually begin an investigation straightaway. The change will benefit individuals, public service providers and the wider public. More individuals who have been struggling to get the answers they want to a complaint will get an independent, formal and final ruling from us. Providers will get to see and learn from more of the complaints that come to us each year, enabling them to identify opportunities to develop and improve their services.
We also plan to share more information about the complaints we see, and the themes we identify, more widely to help ensure that public services are held to account.
You can find out more about our new approach to complaints here. For examples of complaints we’ve resolved for people, see ‘From our casebook’ in this newsletter.
