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Select Committee · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2020-21

Status: Closed Opened: 20 Sep 2021 Closed: 8 Aug 2022 7 recommendations 13 conclusions 1 report

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) is launching its annual scrutiny session into the work of the PHSO in the financial year 2020/21. According to the House of Commons Standing Order 146 , PACAC's role in relation to the PHSO is: to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First Report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman S… HC 213 20 May 2022 20 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
1 Conclusion First Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

The Committee notes the actions taken by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to ensure...

The Committee notes the actions taken by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to ensure continuing services to the public in difficult and unprecedented circumstances throughout the pandemic. However, the Committee notes the substantial backlog which has developed as a result. Whilst action is being taken to reduce this, we …

Government response. The government states that since April 2021, they have focused PHSO’s resources on the more serious health complaints. Government will undertake a final review in autumn 2022 considering 18 months of data.
3 Recommendation First Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

The PHSO should also consider developing and reporting against timeliness targets for each grade of...

The PHSO should also consider developing and reporting against timeliness targets for each grade of “severity of injustice” to better monitor the impact of the backlog on higher category cases in Levels 3 to 6.

Government response. The government states the Service Charter provides a valuable source of feedback about people’s experiences of PHSO’s service. The government claims they continue to train and develop new staff and that they have plans in place to continue reducing the …
4 Recommendation First Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

The Committee notes that the PHSO has again struggled to reverse the trend of weaker...

The Committee notes that the PHSO has again struggled to reverse the trend of weaker feedback scores on some elements of its Service Charter performance areas. The Committee however also notes the need to clarify the wording of its Service Charter questions by providing additional context to PHSO users so …

Government response. The government will conduct a review of how PHSO obtains feedback from service users, including working with a research agency, reviewing the complainant survey, undertaking an internal review of quality standards, and using the Public and User Advisory Group.

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
14 Dec 2021 Amanda Amroliwala CBE · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Rob Behrens CBE · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman View ↗

Correspondence

12 letters
DateDirectionTitle
25 Jul 2022 From cttee Letter to Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive, Environment Agency on implementatio…
12 Jul 2022 To cttee Letter from Maria Caulfield MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Patient Safety…
17 May 2022 To cttee Letter from NHS England and Improvement on the Parliamentary and Health Service…
29 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…
24 Feb 2022 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…
3 Feb 2022 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Ombudsman and Chair Parliamen…
18 Jan 2022 From cttee Letter to Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster on ext…
11 Jan 2022 From cttee Letter to Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Servic…
11 Jan 2022 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…
7 Dec 2021 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair Parliamentary and Health Serv…
19 Nov 2021 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…
19 Nov 2021 To cttee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…