National Ombudsmen
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Ombudsman comments on Healthwatch England report
Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said:
"We sit at the apex of the complaints system and investigate complaints that individuals have been treated unfairly, received poor service where people are not satisfied with the response to a complaint from the NHS in England.
"We support Healthwatch England’s recommendations for replacing the current fragmented support and advocacy system with a more easily accessible system. We believe there should be national standards for complaints advocacy and one brand so that people know where to turn to for support when making a complaint.
"We are pleased that Healthwatch England is supporting the case for a single Public Ombudsman Service to be responsible for all complaints about health and social care in England.
"In addition, so that providers and regulators can measure progress towards what health service users regard as good complaint handling we have worked with Healthwatch England and the Local Government Ombudsman to capture user expectations. These have already been incorporated into the Care Quality Commission’s new approach to inspections."
Contact: Jeremy Dunning
Phone: 0300 061 4220
