Removing barriers to our service
To continuously improve the service we offer, it is vital that we listen to the people we are here to help. We invested in external relationships, strengthening engagement with service users. We set up a Public Engagement Advisory Group to change how we listen and learn from members of the public and complainants. Six former complainants joined the group, which will expand during 2023-24 to include people who have not used our service. The advisory group will offer guidance on improving the experience people have with us and contribute ideas to policy and process development.
Improving public awareness through community outreach
We know that different communities have different experiences of injustice and how to complain when something goes wrong. This year we started a series of regional Ombudsman roadshows across the country to hear directly about issues facing local communities. In March, the Ombudsman visited Stockton-on-Tees and met with a number of local groups to hear about their experiences. He visited Tennant Street Medical Centre to discuss their support in trialling the PHSO-developed Complaint Standards for the NHS, and Stockton Riverside College to talk to students about the importance of Ombudsman services. We also held a free pop-up advisory clinic at Citizens Advice, with expert caseworkers on hand to talk through the complaints process.