Catalogue description Records of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) was established in 1967 and comprises the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, and the Health Service Commissioner for England. The Ombudsman is independent of Government and is an officer of parliament. The role of the Ombudsman is to provide a service to the public by undertaking independent investigations into complaints that government departments, a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the National Health Service (NHS) in England, have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service. Although the service has two separate functions, parliamentary and health, they come under the same Ombudsman who is supported by an office of casework and corporate staff: the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner (Ombudsman).

The Parliamentary Ombudsman (or Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration)

The Parliamentary Ombudsman draws their powers almost wholly from the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, as since amended. Its role is to investigate complaints about maladministration referred by MPs from members of the public against government departments and certain non-departmental public bodies (in March 1999 an additional 158 public bodies were brought within the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Ombudsman), although certain types of action by government departments or bodies are excluded from the investigation (e.g. the Ombudsman cannot investigate crime, national security, foreign affairs, the armed forces and other civil services). The Parliamentary Ombudsman is also responsible for investigating complaints referred by MPs alleging that access to official information has been wrongfully refused under the 1994 Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

The Health Service Commissioner (or Health Service Ombudsman)

The Health Service Ombudsman was first established under the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973, but now draws their powers almost wholly from the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993. This role is responsible for investigating complaints against National Health Service (NHS) authorities and trusts that are not dealt with by those authorities to the satisfaction of the complainant. Complaints can be referred directly by the member of the public who claims to have sustained injustice or hardship in consequence of the failure in a service provided by a relevant body, failure of that body to provide a service or in consequence of any action by that body. The Ombudsman's jurisdiction now covers complaints about family doctors, dentists, pharmacists and opticians, and complaints about actions resulting from clinical judgment. The Health Service Ombudsman is also responsible for investigating complaints that information has been wrongly refused under the Code of Practice on Openness in the National Health Service 1995.

Since devolution, separate legislation has been enacted for complaints about the National Health Service in Scotland and Wales (the Northern Ireland Ombudsman was already the Health Service Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, under separate legislation). The 1993 Act has been amended so that as from 23 October 2002 it no longer covers complaints about the NHS in Scotland, and as from 1 April 2006 it no longer covers complaints about the NHS in Wales. Hence, as from the latter date, apart from some provisions dealing with such matters as co-operation with other Ombudsmen, the 1993 Act deals only with the Health Service Ombudsman for England.