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22 August 2008
In April 2009, a new two-stage integrated complaints system for dealing with complaints about NHS and Social Care will be introduced in England. The aim is to deliver a more responsive, effective and timely method for dealing with complaints, in order to improve the service for complainants. It will mean that complaints about the NHS which remain unresolved following local resolution may be referred directly to the Health Service Ombudsman (and/or the Local Government Ombudsman in the case of integrated health and social care complaints).
From April 2008 a number of health and social care organisations have been taking part in an ‘Early Adopter Programme’ run by the Department of Health to pilot the new system. As part of this programme, the Early Adopters will, with effect from August 2008, pilot the two-stage approach in dealing with complaints: this means that if, following completion of local resolution, the complaint remains unresolved, the complainant may choose to refer it to the Ombudsmen direct. More information about the new complaints system – and the Early Adopter Programme - is available on the Department of Health website (link opens in a new window). If you have any questions about whether and how your complaint may be affected by the Early Adopter Programme, please contact us on 0345 015 4033.
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17 July 2008
In a report laid before both Houses of Parliament, Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, has called on the Government to apologise to Equitable Life policyholders and to establish and fund a compensation scheme for those policyholders.
In her report Equitable Life: a decade of regulatory failure (HC 815), the Ombudsman makes ten determinations of maladministration on the part of the former Department of Trade and Industry, the Government Actuary's Department, and the Financial Services Authority, in relation to their regulation of Equitable in the period before 1 December 2001.
In addition to upholding several specific complaints, the Ombudsman has upheld a general complaint about the period before Equitable closed to new business on 8 December 2000, namely that:
...the public bodies responsible for the prudential regulation of insurance companies...and the Government Actuary's Department failed for considerably longer than a decade properly to exercise their regulatory functions in respect of Equitable Life.
Finding that injustic resulted from maladministration, the Ombudsman has recommended that a compensation scheme should be established to assess the individual cases of Equitable's current and former policyholders, with a view to paying compensation to remedy any financial losses which would not have been suffered had those people invested elsewhere than with Equitable.
The Ombudsman has suggested that such a scheme should be established within six months of any decision by Government and Parliament to do so and, once operational, should complete its work within two years. The scheme should be independent, transparent and simple to administer.
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13 June 2008
Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) today urges the NHS to improve the way it handles complaints.
In a new report - Remedy in the NHS - Ms Abraham summarises 12 NHS cases previously investigated by her Office, highlighting examples of both good and bad practice in dealing with complaints. She concludes that “the cases speak powerfully for themselves about the individual and public benefit of effectively resolved complaints.”
The cases, set out in the first of a series of reports aimed at giving complainants and the NHS a clear understanding of how the PHSO approaches complaints, touch on a wide range of issues. Some of them identify failings in the service provision - from poor record keeping and poor communication with patients, relatives and carers to more serious clinical failings and, in one case, an avoidable death. Others involve failings in complaint handling.
Read the press release
Read the full report
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27 March 2008
The first joint report by the Local Government Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman for England was published today. It is the first time the two Ombudsmen have collaborated on an investigation in this way, using new powers from the Regulatory Reform Order that allow collaboration between Ombudsmen.
Injustice in residential care: A joint report by the Local Government Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman for England, reports on our investigations into complaints made by Mr and Mrs Taylor (not their real names) against Buckinghamshire County Council and Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust about the care received by their son Frank, a man with severe learning difficulties. We identify a number of significant failings both in the level of care Frank received and in the way in which Mr and Mrs Taylor’s complaints were handled. We concluded that there had been fault by both the Council and the Trust that caused adverse effects for Frank and his family, including acute anxiety and distress and some financial loss. The report details the remedy we have recommended to the Council and the Trust.
Read the full report here
Read the press release here
15 July 2008
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is to set up an Office in Manchester for up to 150 staff, and will soon launch a major recruitment drive. This will be part of the build-up to the implementation of the two-stage system for NHS complaints in April 2009.
A range of posts in both London (where the Ombudsman already has an Office) and Manchester will be advertised in national, local and specialist press from September 2008. They will include opportunities for people with relevant skills, knowledge and experience to join PHSO as case workers, customer service officers, clinical advisers, managers and administrative support staff. A separate recruitment process will be available for any applicants who are currently employed in complaint handling by the Healthcare Commission.
People who wish to register an interest in working with PHSO should email us with details of the type of roles they are interested in. We will send them application details when vacancies are advertised.
16 May 2008
The Ombudsman’s Office is working on a project to develop Principles of Good Complaint Handling and we would welcome your views on the draft Principles as part of a public consultation. Promoting good complaint handling by public bodies is a key part of our work and the Principles are based on the experiences of this Office in considering complaint handling for over forty years.
View the finished document here
14 December 2007
The Ombudsman’s report, The introduction of the ban on swill feeding, published today, contains the results of my investigation into the complaint made by Associated Swill Users (ASU), on behalf of all their members, against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in relation to the introduction of the ban on swill feeding, following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001. Although the complaint is not upheld, it seemed that the level of interest in the subject matter, and in particular the link to the outbreak of FMD, meant that it was important that the report in its entirety should be put into the public domain.
Read the full report here
The Principles for Remedy were published on 11 October 2007, following a consultation that took place in March 2007. The report of that consultation can be found here. The Principles for Remedy flow from, and should be read with, the Principles of Good Administration published March 2007.
9 October 2007
In her second special report on tax credits, Tax Credits: Getting it wrong?, published today, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, says that despite the considerable improvements which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has made in their administration of tax credits since her last report in 2005, it still has a very long way to go.
Read the report here
Read the press release here
1 August 2007
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman have today been granted new powers which will improve and streamline the way they work together on complaints that cross the boundaries between their jurisdictions.
A new Regulatory Reform Order means that, for the first time, the Ombudsmen can share information, carry out joint investigations and issue joint reports on cases which are relevant to more than one of them.
Read the press release here
Read the fact sheet here (pdf)
19 July 2007
Our Annual Report Putting principles into practice is now available online. In it the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, calls for public bodies to put the customer at the centre of public services, using her six Principles of Good Administration as a guide.
The Ombudsman launched the Principles in March. They are “broad statements of what I believe bodies within my jurisdiction should do to deliver a high standard of customer service.”
The Ombudsman reported on 2,502 investigations over the year ending 30 March 2007, of which 1,363 related to government departments, agencies and public bodies, and 1,139 to health services. The report highlights cases where departments have given confusing guidance or inadequate information, where delays have caused injustice, and where there have been persistent errors and poor complaint handling.
Read the Ombudsman’s Annual Report here.
Read the press release here
27 March 2007
The Principles of Good Administration were published on 27 March 2007, following a consultation that took place at the end of 2006. The report of that consultation can be found here.
30 July 2006
PASC criticises government on the pensions promise—and warns about constitutional threat to the Ombudsman
In its report published 30th July 2006, ‘The Ombudsman in Question: The Ombudsman’s report on pensions and its constitutional implications’ (HC 1081), the Public Administration Select Committee criticises the government for breaking the 'pensions promise' and failing to respond appropriately to the Ombudsman's report on the issue.
The Ombudsman published her report Trusting in the Pensions Promise: Government bodies and the security of final salary occupational pensions in March 2006.
The Government rejected both the finding of maladministration and her recommendation that the Government should consider whether it should make arrangements for the restoration of full pensions to those affected.
Link to PASC report (www)
Far eastern civilian internees: MOD-commissioned report reveals shortcomings in operation of ex-gratia scheme.
The report of the investigation into the problems encountered by the MOD scheme to compensate far eastern civilian internees is published today. This written statement is made by Tom Watson, Veterans Minister.
Final report.doc
Annex A Chronology final report.doc
Annex B Analysis final report.doc
Read the Ombudsman's report, A Debt of Honour
Ombudsman calls for more constructive government response to her reports
Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, today criticises a number of government departments for taking a negative and defensive approach to her investigations. In her 2005-06 annual report, Making a Difference, Ms Abraham praises some other departments for engaging constructively with her, and says that her investigations into maladministration can be used by government as a “powerful lever for reform”.
Ms Abraham today reported on the 3,606 investigations carried out by her office in the year ending 30 March 2006. More >>
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A new approach to the handling of complaints relating to tax credits
From 1 April 2006 the Parliamentary Ombudsman will only investigate those complaints against the Tax Credit Office of HM Revenue and Customs that have either exhausted the Revenue’s complaints procedure, cases which raise new issues we feel need exploring, or cases where there are other issues that would make a referral to the Tax Credit Office and/or the Adjudicator’s Office inappropriate. All other cases received after 1 April 2006 will be referred back to those Offices to be investigated and resolved. More information about the new approach and the reasons behind it, can be found in the explanatory note.
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