Recommendations & Conclusions
14 items
1
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The information provided in the PHSO’s annual report on the outcome of enquiries and complaints should be made more transparent. The grouping of cases that “are not ready to be taken forward” and “should not be taken forward” should be ended. Presumably the former could still lead to investigations being …
Government response. The Committee has a crucial role in holding PHSO’s independent service to account. As an Officer of the House, the Ombudsman is fully committed to being open and transparent about the performance of the service PHSO provides to the public. …
2
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
In May 2020, the PHSO reported to the Committee that it had experienced an increase of 13 per cent in demand compared to the previous financial year. Due to the introduction of a new digital casework management system, comparisons between years were not possible. This means that the 13 per …
Government response. PHSO is open and transparent about the performance of the service we provide. The information we provided to the Committee in May 2020 was and is correct. Accordingly, the Ombudsman wrote to the Committee on 25 January 2021 to highlight …
3
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee welcomes the PHSO’s efforts to set stretching target section scores for its Service Charter commitments, but continues to regard the relatively low scores against commitments 8, 11 and 13 as continuing priority areas for improvement and requests an update from the PHSO when data for the mid-year point …
Government response. The Service Charter provides a valuable source of feedback about people’s experience of PHSO’s service. PHSO is the only public service Ombudsman to regularly carry out and publish a survey of this kind. PHSO is committed to improving the quality …
4
Recommendation
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee appreciates that there is a risk that complainants could be overwhelmed with information if all the evidence the PHSO has collected is shared with them, but it remains the case that complainants need to be assured that all the evidence they have provided has been properly logged. We …
Government response. PHSO recognises the importance of being transparent about the material evidence (the evidence which we have taken into consideration in making a decision on a complaint). We set out in each final investigation decision report how material evidence has supported …
5
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The PHSO should report in its annual report and accounts the number of new enquiries and complaints that have been received in that financial year. This number is separate from the number of enquiries and complaints that the PHSO has “handled” in that same financial year.
Government response. The Committee has a crucial role in holding PHSO’s independent service to account. As an Officer of the House, the Ombudsman is fully committed to being open and transparent about the performance of the service PHSO provides to the public. …
6
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The PHSO should provide a breakdown of how long health cases that are over one year old have been open for. This information should also be produced next to the general information the PHSO provides on the amount of time it has taken to close cases in that financial year. …
Government response. The Committee has a crucial role in holding PHSO’s independent service to account. As an Officer of the House, the Ombudsman is fully committed to being open and transparent about the performance of the service PHSO provides to the public. …
7
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The PHSO should report regularly in its annual report the number of cases in the queue for allocation to a caseworker and the average amount of time it took for cases to be allocated to a caseworker. This will be particularly important to understand the impact covid-19 has had on …
Government response. The Committee has a crucial role in holding PHSO’s independent service to account. As an Officer of the House, the Ombudsman is fully committed to being open and transparent about the performance of the service PHSO provides to the public. …
8
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
It is necessary for complaints to the PHSO to be time-limited, as there needs to be some level of certainty about when matters that could potentially be complained about can no longer be taken forward. However, the Committee’s view is that if an organisation cannot demonstrate that it has informed …
Government response. The Health Service Commissioner Act and Parliamentary Commissioner Act both set a legal time limit of 12 months from the date an individual became aware of a failing for the Ombudsman to investigate. They also give the Ombudsman the power …
9
Recommendation
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee recommends that the PHSO should publish a target for responding to correspondence, and should track its performance against that standard and report to the Committee each year. (Paragraph 31) Value for Money
Government response. The Committee has a crucial role in holding PHSO’s independent service to account. As an Officer of the House, the Ombudsman is fully committed to being open and transparent about the performance of the service PHSO provides to the public. …
10
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee believes that regular peer review studies will be an important source of assurance of the effectiveness of the PHSO’s processes and in turn, its value for money. The Committee recommends that peer review should include specific assurance on the quality of the PHSO’s casework. This should involve analysing …
Government response. We welcome the Committee’s recognition of the benefits of the independent peer review of PHSO’s value for money in 2018 and the plans to commission another peer review during the period covered by PHSO’s new corporate strategy. PHSO has been …
11
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
While peer review does require some degree of understanding of ombudsman services, fresh independent perspectives are valuable to avoid groupthink setting in. The Committee recommends that the next peer review should include in its panel an independent member, such as an auditor who has experience of looking at complaints handling …
Government response. We welcome the Committee’s recognition of the benefits of the independent peer review of PHSO’s value for money in 2018 and the plans to commission another peer review during the period covered by PHSO’s new corporate strategy. PHSO has been …
12
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee recommends that the value for money study should adopt the following broad structure in its report: For each area examined, the report should first set out what is expects to see of a modern ombudsman organisation, it should then explain what it did actually find and finally it …
Government response. We welcome the Committee’s recognition of the benefits of the independent peer review of PHSO’s value for money in 2018 and the plans to commission another peer review during the period covered by PHSO’s new corporate strategy. PHSO has been …
13
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
The Committee reiterates its conclusion that legislative reform of the PHSO is required. The PHSO’s legislation is out of date compared to modern Ombudsman standards. While the Committee appreciates the pressing priorities facing the Government, including covid-19, reform of the PHSO should not be treated as a trifling matter and …
Government response. The Government appreciates the desire of PACAC to modernise Ombudsman standards and agrees that this is an important matter. As outlined by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in September 2020, the current pressures on the Government and the …
14
Conclusion
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Heal…
Routinely publishing the PHSO’s casework online, including levels of compliance with the PHSO’s recommendations will help to demonstrate the impact of the PHSO on other organisations. For recommendations that are of a more long-term nature, such as forming and implementing an action plan, publishing casework online also helps interested parties …
Government response. As set out in PHSO’s 2018–21 strategy, we are committed to publishing casework decisions online and we have been developing the systems, processes and technology that will make this possible. From the end of April 2021, we will start publishing …