Mistakes happen – failure
to put them right quickly and properly can make them considerably worse
Issued by the News
Distribution Service on behalf of the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman
Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, today urged public
bodies to improve customer service by acting swiftly and
effectively to resolve complaints. 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.
In the report Ann Abraham said:
‘In a perfect world, mistakes would never happen but, given that
they do, it is how public bodies react when mistakes occur that
interests me most. Small mistakes have the potential for
far-reaching consequences and the failure to remedy mistakes
quickly and properly can make them considerably worse.’
In the case of Mr U, highlighted in the report, it took nearly
three years, the breakdown of Mr U’s marriage and damage to his
relationship with his children before the Child Support Agency
(CSA) admitted that they had wrongly identified Mr U as the father
of two other children. In fact, CSA knew less than two months
after they first made the mistake that they probably had the wrong
man. Following the Ombudsman’s investigation, Mr U received an
apology from the CSA and compensation of £10,000. The CSA had
previously offered compensation of just £350.
Ann Abraham stressed the importance of prompt and efficient
complaint handling:
‘The public bodies involved in these complaints have told me that
these cases should not be seen as representative of the services
these agencies deliver to millions of people every day. I do not
suggest that they are. I am, however,concerned that in every one
of these cases there were opportunities that were not taken to put
things right much sooner. It should not have taken the
intervention of the Ombudsman to bring an end to Mr U’s
nightmare.’
The report emphasises the need for public bodies to ‘seek
continuous improvement’ – one of the Ombudsman’s key principles.
Ann Abraham concluded:
‘I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of public bodies
learning from complaints and using this learning to improve their
services and performance. I hope that all public bodies – those
cited in this Digest and those which are not – will take the
opportunity to reflect on and learn from these cases.’
Notes to editors:
1. Ann Abraham holds the post of UK Parliamentary Ombudsman and
is also Health Service Ombudsman for England. She is appointed by
the Crown and is completely independent of Government and the NHS.
Her role is to provide a service to the public by undertaking
independent investigations into complaints that government
departments, a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the NHS
in England, have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a
poor service. There is no charge for using the Ombudsman’s services.
2. Number of complaints: In 2008-09 the Parliamentary Ombudsman
received 7,608 enquiries about government departments and public
bodies (excluding health). There was an 8.8 per cent increase in
the number of complaints.
3. Recommendations: Over 99% of recommendations the Ombudsman
made during the year have been accepted or are currently being
considered by the body or practitioner complained about.
4. Publication details: Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman, Small mistakes, big consequences, HC 6, 20 November
2009. Press copies of the report are available from the
Communications team, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,
Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP, telephone: 0300 061
4996/ 4258. From 20 November 2009 you can also find the report on
the website www.ombudsman.org.uk.
5. The Ombudsman will not be undertaking interviews. For other
media enquiries please contact the PHSO Press Office.
Contacts:
NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the above department
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk
PHSO Press Office
Phone: 0300 061 4996
press@ombudsman.org.uk