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Improving public service:

a matter of principle includes real cases from a range of public bodies and illustrates good and bad practice in dealing with complaints. Ms Abraham shares the lessons her Office has learnt from recent investigations and urges public bodies to improve public administration and complaint handling practices.

"I fully appreciate that when public bodies deliver services on a large scale, things can go wrong from time to time. The key is how they then deal with the mistake and put it right. Complaints are a valuable source of feedback and handled well, provide an opportunity to improve both service and reputation".

The cases highlighted illustrate how the Ombudsman's previous publications Principles of Good Administration and Principles for Remedy can be used to improve the outcome of complaints.

Ms Abraham says she is determined to make sure public bodies are aware of the standards she expects from them when providing services to the public.

"I am committed to do more to tell public bodies in my jurisdiction, including the National Health Service, the value of dealing with complaints promptly and effectively.

My Principles of Good Complaint Handling (published last month) gives further guidance to public bodies on dealing with complaints".

The following publications are available to download from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's website http://www.ombudsman.org.uk.

Improving public service: a matter of principle
Remedy in the NHS
Principles of Good Administration
Principles for Remedy
Principles of Good Complaint Handling

The six Principles in each case are:

Getting it right, being customer focused, being open and accountable, acting fairly and proportionately, putting things right, and seeking continuous improvement.

The following cases are mentioned in Improving public service:

* The Health and Safety Executive.
* The Department of Health.
* The Healthcare Commission.
- Flawed investigation of a patient's complaint about a dentist
- Remedy for a flawed investigation and poor service.
* The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the Healthcare Commission.
* Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust, Berkshire East Teaching Primary Care Trust, and the Healthcare Commission.
* Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust and the Healthcare Commission.
* Rotherham Primary Care Trust and Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority.
* The Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (now the UK Border Agency) of the Home Office.
* HM Courts Service.
- Breach of confidentiality by HM Courts Service as well as subsequent handling of correspondence, a complaint and a request for compensation
- Failure to act on a request to serve a third party debt order on a specific day.
* The Disability and Carers Service of the Department for Work and Pensions.
* The Learning and Skills Council for England.
* HM Revenue and Customs.
* The Security Industry Authority.
* Jobcentre Plus, Department for Work and Pensions.
- Failure to appreciate the full scope of the injustice caused by maladministration.
- Mishandling of income support payments and inadequate consideration given to appropriate remedy.
* The Criminal Records Bureau.
* A general practitioner.
* A dental practice and a dentist.

Publication details: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Improving public service: a matter of principle, HC9, 11 December 2008.

From 12 December 2008 you can also find the report on the website at: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk where you can find all publications mentioned in this notice.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints about government departments and a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the NHS in England. She is independent of the Government, the civil service and the NHS. Her services are free and confidential.

Friday 12 December 2008 00:01
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

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