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12 March 2010
The findings of investigations into complaints about the provision of services by two
councils and by NHS trusts, partly concerning the actions of staff working in mental health
services, are published today.
The joint report by Ann Abraham,
Health Service Ombudsman, and Local Government Ombudsman, Tony Redmond is called, Report of two investigations by the Local Government Ombudsman for England and the
Health Service Ombudsman for England.
press release
5 March 2010
The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has welcomed Defra’s confirmation today that it will implement the recommendations of her recent Cold Comfort report and pay compensation to the farmers who complained to her about maladministration of the Single Payments Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency.
press release
8 February 2010
The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, today published ‘Fast and fair?’ a report on the UK Border Agency (the Agency).
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Read the full report
5 February 2010
The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has welcomed the letter sent by the Public Administration Select Committee, to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, following PASC’s January hearing about her Cold Comfort report.
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21 January 2010
The combined failings of three public bodies allowed illegal waste activities to go unchecked over a seven-year period with devastating effect, says an Ombudsmen report published today. Environmentally Unfriendly, a joint report by Ann Abraham, Parliamentary Ombudsman and Local Government Ombudsman, Anne Seex, looks to the three bodies to pay £95,000 in compensation to the neighbours of the unauthorised waste site.
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Read the full report
16 December 2009
Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, called on the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to apologise and pay compensation for the maladministration of the Single Payments Scheme in a report laid before Parliament today, entitled: Cold Comfort: the Administration of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency.
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Read the full report
9 December 2009
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has welcomed today's Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) report and its recommendations regarding the removal of the 'MP filter' and ensuring Parliamentary debate when the Government has failed to remedy injustice caused by maladministration.
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20 November 2009
The latest Ombudsman report, Small mistakes, big consequences contains eleven case studies illustrating how the relatively minor mistakes of large government departments can have a major impact on the people they are attempting to serve and on the public purse.
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Read the full report (pdf 1.25MB)
15 October 2009
Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, has commented on the outcome of the application by the Equitable Members' Action Group for judicial review of the Government's response to her report, Equitable Life: a decade of regulatory failure.
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16 July 2009
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, publishes her Annual Report 2008-09 today.
The Annual Report is published alongside a new Strategic Plan for 2009-12, the Corporate Business Plan for 2009-10 and the detailed Resource Accounts for 2008-09. Together these documents offer a comprehensive view of the Office’s role, work and ambitions.
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Read full annual report (pdf 6.44KB)
1 April 2009
On 1st April 2009, the health complaints system in England will be simplified when the Health Service Ombudsman becomes the second and final point of contact for complaints.
Anyone who feels that their complaint has not been handled satisfactorily by their local NHS body or practice can now complain directly to the Health Service Ombudsman. The change removes the need to first complain to the Healthcare Commission, and streamlines the process to improve the way complaints are handled.
The Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has worked with the Department of Health and Healthcare Commission to ensure the transition is as straightforward as possible for complainants and the NHS.
The new process has two clear stages from a complainant’s point of view: their case is either resolved locally or can be taken forward to the Ombudsman.
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Changes to the NHS complaints system
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31 March 2009
In 2007-08 the Parliamentary Ombudsman received 7,341 complaints about government departments and a range of other public bodies. Of these, 2,574 were about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
It is not surprising that the largest number of complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman concern DWP given the size and nature of DWP's business, serving over 20 million customers at any one time. It is understandable that mistakes happen, what is important is how DWP dealt with them. Many complaints could have been resolved much sooner by DWP, and complaint handling should have been more customer focused.
The cases included in this digest have been selected because they illustrate the wide variety of complaints and complainants, and the often serious results, when DWP get things wrong. Five themes are identified in these cases:
• poor information provision
• delay
• poor record keeping
• falling between the gaps
• poor complaint handling.
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Read the press release
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24 March 2009
In a report laid before Parliament on 23 March 2009 Ann Abraham, Health Service Ombudsman and Jerry White, Local Government Ombudsman, called for an urgent review of health and social care for people with learning disabilities.
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10 February 2009
The Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, launched the Ombudsman’s Principles at the Department of Health’s Making Experience Count Conference in London on Tuesday 20 February.
Ombudsman’s Principles will be key to supporting NHS officers make a success of the new health complaints system that comes into force from 1 April 2009.
The new complaints system will improve the way health complaints are handled by putting the emphasis on people having their problems and complaints sorted out locally.
It simplifies the process taking out a tier of bureaucracy and enables people who’s complaints have not been dealt with properly by their local NHS to complain to the Ombudsman.
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29 January 2009
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) is to re-open its inquiry into Equitable Life. This follows the Government’s response earlier this month to a report from the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
At a session on Thursday 29 January at 10.00am PASC will hear from The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham.
Memorandum (pdf) submitted by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to PASC.
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