Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Deferred
Paragraph: 30
Publish criteria for reviewing the 'severity of injustice' approach to PHSO case management.
Recommendation
We reiterate the concerns we expressed in our 2021–22 report about the PHSO’s continuation of the ‘severity of injustice’ approach to case management which means certain cases are very unlikely to be resolved and are not subject to detailed investigation. This was introduced as a temporary measure during the pandemic. The PHSO have stated it intends to review its future approach when the backlog of cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been dealt with, with this likely to take place towards the end of the 2023/24 financial year. We reiterate the recommendation from our 2021–22 report that the PHSO should set out publicly the criteria it will use during the review to determine its future approach.
Government Response Summary
The government's response did not address the recommendation to set out publicly the criteria for reviewing its 'severity of injustice' approach to case management. Instead, it detailed improvements to Service Charter scores, queue reduction, staff training, and complainant surveys.
Paragraph Reference:
30
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
service. Feedback is collected throughout the year via an online survey run by PHSO and through telephone surveys managed by an independent research company. Our Service Charter scores are steadily improving. In 2023–24, the time taken to close cases has improved across all three of our KPI measures (cases closed within 13/26/52 weeks). The queue reduction work also means that we can begin work on cases much sooner with cases now being allocated within 15–20 weeks (down from a peak of 65 weeks in September 2022). To help improve our Service Charter KPI on gathering information and evidence, we have delivered a series of workshops to our operations staff. This included delivering training for staff on how to identify gaps in casework evidence and the steps staff can take to address these issues. We are also reviewing how we write our decisions, in order to make these clearer and easier to understand. We have had input from our Public Engagement Advisory Group2 to help us understand their views on our investigation reports and improve the language and communication of our decisions. decision to complainants, we have taken steps to improve our casework processes so that we can reach decisions quicker and provide a quicker response to complainants. This has included introducing a new decision form for standard casework to improve efficiency in case handling and focus on making the right decision at the right time, alongside improvements to our Casework Management System. Following the last inquiry, the Committee asked us to prioritise completing a review of PHSO’s regular survey of complainant satisfaction. We have now changed the survey to give us a clearer picture of the experiences of people who use our service. This improves 2 This group comprises former complainants who we engage with on a regular basis to inform user-focused improvements to our service. 8 Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2022–23: Government and PHSO response our understanding but will initially limit our ability to analyse trend data and comparing the results to previous years. However, we will be setting ourselves targets and establish strategies to achieve them in due course.