By Richard Johnstone | 6 May 2014
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said the government must do more to ensure complaints about public services are listened to after it revealed more than 7,500 enquiries had been made in 2013.
Publishing the annual examination of Whitehall complaints, ombudsman Julie Mellor said government departments and agencies must also be more aware of the devastating impact service failures have on individuals and their families.
Cases examined in the report include a child who had to wait nearly ten years before their immigration application was decided, an individual whose medical records were shared inappropriately and a sexual assault victim whose suffering was compounded by mistakes in their treatment.
Complaints to the ombudsman represent the final step for people who have been treated unfairly or received a poor service from government department or agency, or from the NHS in England, although the health service is not included in today’s report.
The cases examined by the ombudsman show the government needed to increase its focus on dealing with complaints, Mellor said.
‘Our casework illustrates the impact that failures in public services can have on the lives of individuals and their families.
‘Good complaint handling can ensure justice for an individual but can also mean that the same mistakes do not happen again and the quality of public services improves.
‘Today’s findings present an opportunity for public leaders to embrace a culture of openness and to value complaints as critical for learning, improving and innovating. Strong and innovative leaders will recognise the valuable opportunities presented by complaints to really improve the way they run their organisation and deliver good public services.’
Of 7,588 enquiries, 1,812 were examined in details and 640 were taken forward for investigation, with recommendations made to government to prevent the same problem from happening again.
Across government, the Department for Work and Pensions was the source of the most initial enquiries to the ombudsman, while the Home Office had more complaints assessed in detail. The Ministry of Justice had the most complaints investigated.
Mellor added that the ombudsman would now carry out research into how departmental boards were using complaints to learn and improve the way they work.
