Select Committee · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2022-23

Status: Closed Opened: 13 Sep 2023 Closed: 28 May 2024 6 recommendations 7 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 2022/23. 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 …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Third Report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman S…	HC 198	4 Mar 2024	13	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items

1 Conclusion Third Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

Outline proposed steps to address service provision concerns for disabled and elderly complainants.

We have heard praise of the PHSO’s handling of casework, but we have also received evidence of concerns with some aspects of its service provision. The PHSO told us that it would reflect on the concerns about the service it provided to people with disabilities while outlining the measures it …

Government response. The PHSO committed to implementing disability awareness training for all staff in 2024-25, reviewing its house style and language guide for accessibility improvements, and leveraging its DDaT strategy to better understand and tailor services for disabled and elderly complainants.

3 Conclusion Third Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

Provide methodology details for setting case resolution targets and review for greater realism.

We do not accept the Ombudsman’s argument that we would have been critical of the PHSO for setting lower, yet more realistic, targets for case resolution. The setting of unrealistic targets leads to them being missed, and draws unwarranted criticism where realistic targets would not do so. Rather, we are …

Government response. The government states its current case resolution targets are based on best practice and are achievable, citing pre-pandemic performance. It indicates it will only reflect on KPIs and consider a review in the event of another significant impact on productivity.

4 Conclusion Third Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

Outline collaboration with stakeholders to increase mediation emphasis in NHS and Government complaint standards.

We welcome the increase in the number of cases resolved by mediation and PHSO’s ambition to widen the range of cases resolved by mediation in 2023/24. The PHSO stressed that the cultural attitudes of stakeholders, notably in the NHS, were a barrier to increasing the number of cases resolved through …

Government response. The government confirms it maintained the number of cases resolved by mediation and widened the types of cases in 2023-24. It commits to providing a further update on mediation prior to the Committee's next inquiry.

12 Recommendation Third Report - Parliamentary and Health… Accepted

Publish PHSO Complaint Standards training proportions and targets for NHS and government staff

We welcome the progress that has been made in developing and rolling out Complaint Standards for the UK Government and the NHS. These Standards have the potential to improve the quality of public services and the handling of complaints. Ensuring that staff know about and act on these Standards is …

Government response. The PHSO reports that over 1,248 NHS learners registered and over 720 people from 145 NHS organisations completed training courses by April 2024. It also states that bespoke training for government departments is being tested and expected to launch by …

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
14 Nov 2023	Rebecca Hilsenrath · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Rob Behrens CBE · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman	View ↗

Correspondence

9 letters

Date	Direction	Title
14 May 2024	From cttee	Letter to the Prime Minister on appointment of the new PHSO Ombudsman, dated 14…
14 May 2024	To cttee	Letter from Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Secretary of State for Work and Penisons on t…
14 May 2024	From cttee	Letter to Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Depar…
16 Apr 2024	From cttee	Letter to Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Depar…
26 Mar 2024	To cttee	Letter from Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive Officer, PHSO on the PHSO repor…
6 Feb 2024	To cttee	Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman, PHSO on publication of the PHSO Report …
16 Jan 2024	To cttee	Letter from NHS England to PACAC and Health and Social Care Committee on the re…
28 Nov 2023	To cttee	Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…
28 Nov 2023	To cttee	Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Serv…