Our response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report on resolved public service complaints

Response - 22 October 2015

A new report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman reveals that health and social care services are leaving too many complaints unresolved and not learning from mistakes, often having a devastating impact on individuals.

The report is a snapshot of 192 case summaries of the 1,075 investigations of unresolved complaints the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) completed investigating in February and March 2015.

Responding to the report on unresolved public service complaints, our Chair, Anna Bradley, said:

“The Ombudsman’s findings are worrying but sadly not surprising. Our research shows that three in five people who complain about health and social care services feel their complaints are not properly addressed.

“While it’s encouraging that many organisations are taking action on complaints to put things right too many are still failing to do so, meaning patients are left in the dark for too long and mistakes aren’t learned from.

“Today’s report underlines how important it is for services to welcome and recognise the importance and value of feedback and complaints. There is clearly more work to do to improve the complaints system – we want to see hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes showing the public their concerns are being taken on board and services are improving as a result.”