Ineffectiveness of Health Service Ombudsman

The Patients Association today releases a damning report into the effectiveness of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

The report concludes: ‘The evidence we have gathered gives a public perception of the PHSO as lacklustre, weak, secretive, unaccountable, untouchable and ineffective.

The total cost to society and families of the PHSO far exceeds the £40 million funding the body receives.

The emotional cost for many families left exhausted and distressed through their experience with the PHSO far outweighs the huge financial cost. The Patients Association therefore continue to be drawn to the conclusion that the PHSO remains unfit for purpose.

If the PHSO was transparent and if complainants were involved, listened to and engaged with the PHSO, the emphasis and remit of the investigation would be clear to all parties. The investigators would be looking at and understanding fully what happened, what went wrong, how and why it went wrong. Most importantly and of paramount importance, sharing the learning on how to avoid the same thing happening again would be commonplace. The PHSO would be the crucial catalyst for change in the NHS.