Source · Ombudsman casework

PHSO Casework Decisions

4,437 published decisions 3,745 Health (NHS) 692 Parliamentary 17% upheld or partly upheld Range: Apr 2021–Aug 2026

Published casework decisions from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. PHSO selects a subset of completed investigations for publication. These 4,437 decisions represent approximately 1.4% of the 319,011 total complaints received across the same period. Source: decisions.ombudsman.org.uk.

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Organisation: University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust · Remove organisation filter

Top themes by upheld rate

AI-classified themes across PHSO casework decisions

Theme	Decisions	Upheld	Rate
Delayed Recognition of Deterioration	746	184	25%
Complaint record keeping failures	631	107	17%
Clinical negligence harms learning	459	92	20%
Care plan failures	436	121	28%
Care and discharge planning	288	77	27%
No person-centred care	215	46	21%
Inaccurate and inaccessible patient records	203	37	18%
Patient dignity and privacy	147	40	27%
Inadequate Pre-Operative Risk Assessment	136	44	32%
Duty of Candour implementation	134	43	32%
Medication Contamination/Misadministration	128	33	26%
DWP policy impact assessment	106	12	11%
Poor health and social care integration	97	21	22%
Mental Health Crisis Referral Delays	74	10	14%
Coroner family information gaps	74	25	34%

PHSO complaint categories

PHSO's own issue classifications — broad categories such as 'Treatment' cover a wide range of clinical complaints

Category	Decisions	Upheld	Rate
Treatment	1,922	488	25%
Diagnosis	1,039	247	24%
Communication	960	256	27%
Complaint handling	662	177	27%
Drugs / medication	602	161	27%
Nursing care	481	181	38%
Access	445	96	22%
Transfer, discharge and aftercare	427	143	33%
Referral	352	78	22%
Administration	239	35	15%
Continuing healthcare	218	24	11%
Choice and Consent	216	58	27%
End of life care	195	55	28%
Surgery	181	39	22%
Record keeping and management	176	35	20%