NHS reform

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 will change the way healthcare in England is delivered.  The abolition of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts and the introduction of the NHS Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups creates a new structure for the NHS.  We are working with the Department of Health, regulators and others, such as patients’ organisations, to ensure that the new structure delivers for patients and the public.

It is vital that high-quality complaint handling is embedded in the new NHS structure. Complaints offer an opportunity for patients’ voices to be heard and these need to be listened to at a senior level. Clinical commissioning groups should set out clearly their expectations of high quality complaint handling from healthcare providers, and we will use our expertise and share our learning to help them support the delivery of this.  

We will also continue our work with others to drive improvement and learning from

NHS complaints information. The Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry has highlighted the importance of identifying and capturing trends and themes at an early stage.  We are committed to playing our part in the development of more meaningful and comparable complaints information that can be used to strengthen the quality of services for patients and the public.

From July 2012 amendments to our legislation will enable us to share our decisions about NHS complaints more widely. When we decide not to investigate formally, we will be able to share the reasons for that with the organisation complained about. At the same time, we will publish more information about the NHS complaints coming to us, to highlight good practice as well as bad.

Public sector reform

The Government’s Open Public Services White Paper aims to promote choice and competition in public services. It proposes opening public service provision to private and third sector providers. In our response to the White Paper, made jointly with the other public service ombudsmen in England and Wales, we welcomed the Government’s recognition that ombudsmen have much to offer in ensuring fair access to public services for everyone.

The Open Public Services agenda highlights the need to explore the role of ombudsmen so that we can meet the challenges posed by a changing public sector. As that discussion continues, we want to ensure that there is a broader understanding of the key role we play in delivering administrative justice. We will continue to develop our relationship with Government and Parliament, including the Public Administration Select Committee, other Select Committees and the House of Lords, to drive that debate.