PARLIAMENTARY AND
HEALTH SERVICE (OMBUDSMAN) News Release (04/08) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 7 October 2008
The Parliamentary
and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, publishes
her
Annual Report 2007/081 today. The Report links lessons
learned from individual complaints to the wider public for the
benefit of improved services.
The Ombudsman, whose office dealt with over 11,500 enquiries
during the year, reported on 926 investigations across both her
jurisdictions. 290 of those reports related to government
departments and a range of other public bodies in the UK: of
those two thirds (68%) were either fully or partly upheld. 636
reports related to the NHS in England and of those around half
(49%) were fully or partly upheld.
A number of case studies are included which show how patterns of
poor administration can be identified from individual complaints
and how the Office has worked with service providers to change
their approach. The Ombudsman particularly mentions the
improvements to the tax credits system identified in her report
Tax Credits: getting it wrong? 3 which are now being implemented
by HM Revenue and Customs.
The Report also highlights the forthcoming changes to NHS
complaints handling which will see a new, simpler system in place
from 1 April 2009. Complaints that are not resolved locally by
those who delivered the original service may be referred directly
to the Ombudsman, so removing the current intermediate review by
the Healthcare Commission.
While acknowledging the challenges faced in her own organisation
and in improving local resolution across the NHS, the Ombudsman
warmly welcomes the change. She said 'For my own Office it
represents yet a further opportunity to deliver individual benefit
to those already aggrieved and wider public benefit to all those
countless citizens who will make use of the NHS in the future.
It is therefore just one aspect of that larger project of
delivering meaningful individual and public benefit, upon which it
continues to be my privilege to be fruitfully engaged.'
During the year, the Ombudsman published her Principles for
Remedy4 which set out how she thinks public bodies should put
things right when they have gone wrong. Based on the same
principles of legality, flexibility, transparency, fairness and
accountability as the Principles of Good Administration5, this new
guidance clarifies the Ombudsman's expectations of fair
remedies for aggrieved customers.
The Annual Report is published alongside a new Strategic Plan for
2008-11, the Corporate Business Plan for 2008/9 and the detailed
Resource Accounts for 2007/8. Together these documents offer a
comprehensive view of the Office's role, work and ambition.
To view a full copy of the Annual Report 2007/08 go to: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/improving_services/annual_reports/index.html
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. Publication details: Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman Annual Report 2007-08 Bringing wider public benefit from
individual complaints, HC 1040, 6 October 2008.
2. From 7 October 2008 you can also find the report on the
website at: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk
where you can find all publications mentioned in this notice.
3. The Parliamentary Ombudsman Tax Credits: getting it wrong, HC
1010, 8 October 2007
4. The six Principles for Remedy are: Getting it right, being
customer focussed, Being open and accountable, Acting fairly and
proportionately, Putting things right, and Seeking continuous improvement.
5. The six Principles of Good Administration are: Getting it
right, Being customer focussed, Being open and accountable, Acting
fairly and proportionately, Putting things right, and Seeking
continuous improvement.
6. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about government
departments and a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the
NHS in England. She is independent of the Government, the civil
service and the NHS. Her services are free and confidential.
7. For more information or copies of the report, please contact
Emma Nicol or Sandy Perrins on 020 7217 4258/ 3943