Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
A man complained about the treatment he received for his fractured rib. We did not uphold the complaint.
Source · Ombudsman decisions
NIPSO Individual Decisions
457 total decisions
192 investigated
139 upheld
72% upheld of investigated
Years: Jul 2000–Mar 2026
457 published decisions from the NI Public Services Ombudsman. The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman investigates complaints about NI government departments, agencies, councils, and public bodies. Source: nipso.org.uk.
Decisions
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
We upheld a man's complaint about the Housing Executive's failure to deal with his enquiries about emergency accommodation.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
The Ombudsman has said she ‘cannot ignore’ the Housing Executive's continued poor response to concerns raised by its service users.
Western Health and Social Care Trust
The Western Trust approved two special chairs for an autistic child to use in school without properly assessing his needs. The Trust should also have given the school clearer instructions on how the chairs were to be used.
Western Health and Social Care Trust
A woman complained about the treatment her late mother received in Altnagelvin Hospital following a fall.
Care Homes
Our latest Case Digest features a number of investigations into complaints about care homes. It highlights the importance of good complaints handling and provides some key messages for the families of those in care.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Our investigation found that a complainant was offered good support by the Belfast Trust during her treatment for Anorexia Nervosa.
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
A man’s cancer treatment was interrupted by the Covid pandemic in March 2020. We found that he should have been reviewed by clinicians as soon as possible after the resumption of face-to-face appointments.
GP
We found that a GP practice should not have removed a patient from its Patient List without giving him an initial warning.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
A woman complained that the Belfast Trust did not properly investigate the cause of her father’s chest pains. She believed if it had done so he may not have died shortly after being discharged from hospital.
Western Health and Social Care Trust
A woman questioned why it took so long for her father to receive surgery in Altnagelvin Area Hospital. She also claimed that poor communication between staff contributed to his untimely death.
GP
A GP practice should have had a face-to-face consultation with an elderly patient, despite the Covid restrictions in place at the time.
Western Health and Social Care Trust
A woman raised concerns with the Western Trust about how her late mother was treated in a care home. We found significant failings in the way the Trust investigated her complaint.
Northern Health and Social Care Trust
We found that a patient with fibromyalgia was treated appropriately by the Northern Trust. Although the Trust failed to keep proper records of her treatment, we did not consider this impacted on her care.
Ann's Care Homes
We found that a pre-admission assessment for a care home resident did not accurately record her mobility, meaning that the home was ill-prepared for her arrival.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
The Belfast Trust told a woman it would not assess her son for ADHD until he was six years old. We found the Trust should have explained its reasons for not doing so more clearly, but acknowledged its timescale was a symptom of the wider …
Southern Health and Social Care Trust
The Southern Trust should have carried out further tests on a patient to see if she was suitable for hip surgery.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
We found the Belfast Trust’s failure to ensure a patient was fit for surgery, and to consider other forms of treatment for his cancer, may have led to his untimely death.
GP
A patient was prescribed diazepam after he complained to his GP about feeling unwell. We asked the surgery to apologise after he was later found to have suffered five strokes in the space of a week.
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
A woman claimed that her daughter’s development was held back by the South Eastern Trust. We upheld parts of the complaint, finding that the Trust's failings led to a loss of opportunity for the child and caused her mother upset and distress.
Various
Shared decision making in a healthcare setting is about involving patients and their families in decisions about their clinical care. Not only does this foster a more compassionate, effective healthcare service, it is vital for patient safety. By listening to and working with patients, a …
Northern Health and Social Care Trust
The Northern Trust failed to provide a patient with a nutritional care plan during his time in hospital. We also found that it should have contacted his family to discuss arrangements for a DNACPR.
Western Health and Social Care Trust
We upheld a complaint from a woman who said she did not give her consent to a surgical procedure. We also found the Trust did not follow the right procedure when it decided the case did not meet the threshold for a Serious Adverse Incident …
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Nursing staff in the Belfast Trust provided appropriate care to a patient before he underwent elective vascular surgery. However, we found it of significant concern that the Trust failed to keep records of a discussion it had with him about the surgery’s risks.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
A woman complained about the care and treatment the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust provided to her daughter following spinal surgery.