December 2016
Feature Article 'Working together to investigate health and social care complaints' - Draft Bill for a new and single public ombudsman service New proposals seek to bring together the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman to create a new and single public ombudsman service. On 5 December, the Government launched the draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill. The draft Bill seeks to bring together the responsibilities of our office (The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman) and the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) to create a new organisation (Public Service Ombudsman) with strengthened governance and accountability. This is a significant and positive step towards the creation of a single and modern public ombudsman service that will make it easier for people to complain about a range of public services and get justice. The Government has said that the draft Bill seeks to make access to the new Ombudsman s services simpler, removing unnecessary barriers to making a complaint. It also wants the new Ombudsman s reach to be broad, extending to government departments, local governments, adult social care, the NHS in England, and a range of other public bodies in the UK. And although the core role of the new Ombudsman will continue to be the investigation of complaints, the draft Bill also seeks to give the Ombudsman a wider and more explicit role in championing improvements in complaints handling and promoting good practice. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor and the Local Government Ombudsman Dr Jane Martin said jointly: The creation of a single Public Ombudsman Service will make it easier for people to have their complaints about public services resolved. The current complaint system is too complex and fragmented, leaving people confused as to which ombudsman to turn to if things go wrong or haven t been resolved locally. Both Ombudsmen have long been urging the Government for these reforms, and are delighted that we are now one step closer to making this a reality. We are now looking at the proposals carefully and look forward to working with the Government to agree a practical and realistic timescale. Overview of the draft Bill: Creates a new and single public ombudsman service that will combine the responsibilities of the current Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman. MP filter is removed in favour of citizens having a choice about whether to have the support of a third party with their complaint. This will mean that when people bring complaints about Government departments, its agencies, and some other public bodies, they do not need ask their MP to bring the case to the Ombudsman. Introduces a new duty for the Ombudsman to promote best practice in complaints handling, along with provisions for the delivery of information, advice, and training. Creates a separate statutory body, known as the Board of the Public Services Ombudsman, to provide staff and resources for the Public Services Ombudsman to carry out functions effectively and independently More News
a joint report The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman published a joint report today, explaining the work of the ombudsmen s Joint Working Team, set up to investigate the most complex joint health and social care complaints. On 22 December the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) published a joint report, Working together to investigate health and social care complaints. The report explains the work of the ombudsmen s Joint Working Team (JWT), which was set up in 2015 to investigate the most complex joint health and social care complaints. During its first year, the team carried out 180 investigations. It discovered that many of the problems experienced have been caused by the complex way in which health and social care is provided at a local level. Common issues that were identified include: Delays in assessments, meaning that people have to wait longer to get the care they need Poor care or failure to provide services altogether Failure to deal with safeguarding issues Lack of appropriate aftercare following discharge from hospital for those sectioned under the Mental Health Act The JWT comprises investigators from both organisations who have been trained to deal with complaints about both, health and social care provisions. Adopting an integrated approach to investigating complaints about health and social care has led to significant benefits and simplified the process for the complainant. The complaints looked at by the team include social services, health trusts, clinical care commissioning groups, or care agencies. The report includes a range of case studies which illustrate the experiences of people who were affected by failure to deliver services. In some cases, this caused considerable hardship and stress. In one case, a complainant explained how he came close to cracking under the pressure of spending 15 months trying to get funding agreed for a home care package so that his brother-in-law could return home. The report is published two weeks after the Government published draft legislation to create a new Public Service Ombudsman, which would simplify the complaints landscape by investigating complaints across many public services. Annual review of Parliamentary complaints for the financial year This report brings together information on the number of complaints we investigated about each government department, its agencies, and some other public organisations. On Wednesday 21 December we published our Annual Review of Parliamentary Complaints for the 2015-16 financial year. You can find a copy of the report on our website here. The report brings together information on the number of complaints we investigated about each government department, its agencies, and some other public organisations. It explores the outcomes of those complaints, and the main reasons that led people to complain to us. During the 2015-16 financial year we completed a total of 748 investigations and upheld 37% of these cases. Our investigations have revealed that people s lives have been put on hold because of incorrect decisions, wrong advice, and delays by public services, leaving people unable to work and separated from their loved ones. Most people bring complaints to us because they don t feel that the organisation that provided the service did enough to put things right, such as giving a proper apology, acknowledging mistakes or
providing sufficient financial remedy. Failures in public services, such as delays, flawed decisionmaking, or incorrect advice, can have a profound effect on people. The report includes cases where a wrong decision by UK Visas and Immigration left a grandmother in her 80s stranded abroad for eight weeks. She was severely visually impaired and had a number of other health problems. Her family in the UK were extremely worried about her health and welfare, and her grandson had to go abroad to care for her. In another case we investigated, we found it was the wrong advice by visa staff at two British embassies which left a man stranded abroad for two months, unable to return to the UK and go back to work after his holiday, causing a great deal of stress and anxiety and leaving him and his wife struggling financially. Our report also includes a more detailed analysis of the four departments about which we receive most complaints: the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs. We upheld 75% of complaints about the Home Office, compared to 39% about the Department for Work and Pensions, 36% about the Ministry of Justice and 10% about Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. Overall in 2015-16, the Ombudsman service upheld 40% of complaints it investigated, including about the NHS in England. The top reasons for complaints across all departments and their agencies were about incorrect decisions and poor communication. Parliamentary inquiry on our 'Learning from Mistakes' report The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee held two follow-up evidence sessions on our report 'Learning from Mistakes, An investigation report by the PHSO into how the NHS failed to properly investigate the death of a three-year old child'. This was our second report on the tragic death of Sam Morrish. In November, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee held two follow-up evidence sessions on our report 'Learning from Mistakes, An investigation report by the PHSO into how the NHS failed to properly investigate the death of a three-year old child'. This was our second report on the tragic death of Sam Morrish and follows up on our earlier report An avoidable death of a three-year old child from sepsis. Learning from Mistakes highlighted a defensive culture in the NHS where fear of blame inhibits open investigations, learning, and improvement and a lack of competence in the conduct of NHS investigations. The Committee heard evidence from Sam s father, Scott Morrish, and the Minister of State for Health, Philip Dunne MP, as well as representatives for NHS Improvement, the CQC, and the soon to be established Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB). The Committee are expected to publish a report on their inquiry in early 2017. We will update you when it is published. T he Ombudsman's reflection and message for the festive period Dame Julie Mellor reflects on our work and wishes everyone a happy holiday. Three years ago we launched an ambitious strategy to have more impact for more people affected when public services fall short.we have made significant progress in achieving more impact for the public and introducing a more people-focused service.
We have identified and reported on significant public service failures and have secured commitments from service providers to take action to address these failures. Last year, we began to see evidence of real change in services or guidance as a result of our published reports and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) holding service providers to account for improvements: Since PACAC s hearing on our Time to Act report on sepsis, our recommendations have been steadily adopted: NHS England introduced an action plan in December 2015, NICE published its first ever guidelines on Sepsis in July 2016, and a UK-wide awareness campaign was launched in August 2016 to improve recognition of sepsis. Publication of our report into midwifery supervision and regulation led the Nursing and Midwifery Council to vote to take direct responsibility and accountability for all activity regulating midwives. We expect the Government to lay regulations before Parliament soon to resolve the issue by March 2017. Our report of investigations into unsafe discharge from hospital led to an inquiry by the Committee, and its subsequent report added Parliament s authority to the need to address the social care funding gap. PACAC endorsed our recommendation for investigators into avoidable death and harm to be accredited, and this was reflected by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch s Expert Advisory Group. Following our report and a PACAC inquiry, HS2 Ltd introduced a 24-hour helpdesk and improved the way it engages with the public. As I reflect on our work over the festive period, I am delighted that the Government has now published a draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill which aims to bring together our office and the Local Government Ombudsman to create a modern public ombudsman service. This is a once-in-ageneration opportunity to make it easier for people to complain about public services. We are considering the proposals carefully and look forward to working with the Government and Parliament in the New Year. I wish you peaceful holiday and all the best for 2017. Dame Julie Mellor, DBE Parliament ary and Healt h Service Ombudsman Email Software by Newsweaver