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“Private healthcare, including cosmetic interventions can have a major impact on  people’s lives when things go wrong. There are Ombudsman services covering  financial services and legal services, but patients have no access to an  independent and impartial judgement on complaints about private healthcare”  says Julie Mellor, Health Service Ombudsman.

She  adds:

“We  agree that this gap should be filled and welcome the recommendation that  government should consider extending our role. As the Ombudsman for NHS funded  care in England, it is logical that we could offer the same service to private  healthcare customers. As the recommendations in the report are considered, we  are keen to work with the Department of Health and others to consider how this  service could operate, how it would be appropriately funded and when it could  be introduced.”

For  media enquiries, please contact the Press Office: phone 0300 061 4996/3981 or  email press@ombudsman.org.uk

Notes to Editors

1. You can read the report by following this link which will redirect you to the government website.
2. The Health Service Ombudsman was set up by to help both individuals and the  general public. We are not part of the NHS.  The Ombudsman’s role is to  investigate complaints that individuals have been treated unfairly or have  received poor service from the NHS or NHS funded services. The service is free  to use and open to everyone.
3. If someone is unhappy about the service they have received from the NHS in  England they should first make their complaint to the department or  organisation in question and give them the chance to respond.  If they’re  not happy with how their complaint is dealt with, they should contact the  Ombudsman – call 0345 015 4033 or email phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk.