“When the public complains, leaders in government need to pay attention” says Julie Mellor as complaint figures are revealed
6 May 2014 01:44 PM
The Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman has published new findings today which reveal the number and
nature of complaints about government departments and agencies in
2013.
The Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman is the final step for people to complain to about the NHS in
England and UK government departments and agencies. We received 7,588 enquiries
in 2013 about UK government departments and agencies. Of these we took a closer
look at 1,812 and 640 were taken forward for investigation.
Details about the nature of
complaints we have investigated and how well departments and agencies have
worked with us to put things right have also been published. These highlight
how the failure by government departments and agencies can have devastating
impacts on individuals and their families. Cases include the stories of a child
who had to wait nearly ten years before their immigration application was
decided, an individual who had their medical records shared inappropriately and
a sexual assault victim whose suffering was compounded by mistakes in their
treatment.
Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman, said:
‘Our case work
illustrates the impact that failures in public services can have on the lives
of individuals and their families. Good complaint handling can ensure justice
for an individual but can also mean that the same mistakes do not happen again
and the quality of public services improves.
‘Today’s
findings present an opportunity for public leaders to embrace a culture of
openness and to value complaints as critical for learning, improving and
innovating. Strong and innovative leaders will recognise the valuable
opportunities presented by complaints to really improve the way they run their
organisation and deliver good public services.
‘We will be carrying
out research into how departmental boards are engaging with complainants and
using complaints to learn and improve the way they work and look forward to
working with the Cabinet Office and all government departments and agencies to
make services better for the public.’
In 2013 the Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman received 7,588 enquiries about government departments
and public bodies. Of these:
- We looked at 1,812 in more
detail, known as the assessment stage and 640 were accepted for
investigation.
- The Department for Work and
Pensions had the most initial enquiries.
- The Home Office had more
complaints assessed than any other Department.
- The Ministry of Justice had the
most complaints accepted for investigation.
The findings published today do
not include complaints about the NHS:
The Parliamentary
Ombudsman’s review of government complaint handling 2013
About the Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman
- The Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman was set up by Parliament to help both individuals and the
public. Its role is to investigate complaints at the final stage when
individuals have been treated unfairly or have received poor service from
government departments and other public organisations and the NHS in England.
Its powers are set out in law and the service is free for
everyone.
- The Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman is the final step for people who have been treated unfairly
or received a poor service from the NHS in England, or a government department
or agency. It carries out investigations and makes recommendations to
government departments to prevent the same problem from happening
again.