18/08/2023
1) What arrangements does the phase make for complainants with limited sight? 2) After a complainant has stated that they have the problem of limited sight..how does the PHSO provide help and assistance for the complainant? 3) What other assistance does the PHSO provide for other physically disadvantaged complainants? 4) Does it wait until the complainant tells them what their problem is, maybe partially investigating it, or does it provide information on assistance upfront before the complaint has be made, on first response.
Since lockdown meant that councils could delay responding to FOIA/SAR requests during lockdown (as advised by the Information Commissioner’s Office), so that complainants were unable to make complaints to the ombudsman within the one-year required, how did the PHSO deal with this situation? What allowances did it make for complainants then unable to comply with the' one-year timed out' rule?
16/08/2023
a) With regard your response to item 2: 2. The figure for cases passed for detailed investigation in 2022 (615) is less than 2% of the number of complaints received in 2022 (35,103), however some complaints received in 2022 are still in progress and may be passed for detailed investigation in subsequent years. Would it be equally correct to say that the cases passed for detailed investigation in 2022 would similarly include complaints received prior to 2022 and passed for detailed investigation in 2022? b) and item 7: 7. We are able to provide data on the number of complaints which were accepted for consideration following re-presentation to us. I would be pleased to receive this data, thank you.
I would also like to make a FOI with regards to the PHSO remit since its inception to date, showing the changes to its remit on each/either change of Ombudsman or restructuring policy changes. I would like this to be fulfilled in layman's terms so I can understand in inclusions, exclusions and enquiries PHSO can deal with and what they can't deal with? I would especially like to know about this permitted 'discretion' on whether to look into a particular case as this imho could mean this remit can be circumnavigated. Please can you provide me with a list of these permitted discretion cases? Can you also provide the Board members, level of funding of PHSO, how many employees and how many complaints are looked into? I would also like to know the level of complaints raised about the PHSO and the timeframes it's taken for PHSO to respond?
Could you kindly share with me your knowledge and experience of investigating discrimination and human rights complaints? Have you for example, undertaken any equalities training or Human rights trainings?
15/08/2023
I was wondering whether the 2023/24 employee pay review has now been finalised and implemented. Freedom of Information Questions 1] Please state the effective date (day and month) of your organisation’s 2023 pay review covering Department staff below Senior Civil Service level. 2] If the 2023 pay review has yet to be finalised please state the month in which you anticipate it will be concluded. 3] Please state the employee group/s covered by the 2023 pay review. 4] Please state the total number of employees covered by the 2023 pay review. 5] Please provide a copy of your 2023 pay agreement (if applicable) or generic pay circular sent to employees (that is one that does not identify any individual employee) outlining the outcome of the latest pay review if there are no collective negotiations. 6] Please state the % consolidated basic pay rise received by the lowest-paid adult employee as a result of the 2023 pay review excluding the effect of any incremental progression, merit pay or bonuses. 7] If an employee’s annual pay award is determined solely according to an assessment of their individual performance (commonly known as a merit increase) as opposed to an across-the-board pay rise (where all employees generally receive the same increase irrespective of their individual performance) please state the percentage of the paybill allocated to fund these awards, the average increase and whether or not the awards are consolidated. 8] If any employees were eligible for one-off individual performance-related payments or bonuses over and above the general pay rise please state the range of awards (either as a percentage of their base salary or a cash amount as applicable) and the overall % of the paybill allocated to fund them. 9] Please state the overall paybill increase as a result of the latest pay review expressed as a percentage of the paybill. 10]. Please state the name of the union/unions party to your main collective agreement covering pay and conditions if there are collective negotiations. 11] Please provide the name and contact details of the person/s responsible for overseeing your organisation’s annual pay review.
I would like to know if you have any information available on the ethnicity of the individuals who made the complaints to you about Charing Cross NHS over the last year.
14/08/2023
I would like to know whether any of the complaints that were made about Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to your organisation over the last two years was about lack of duty of candour, breach of duty of care, fraud by misrepresentation ,falsifying of patient notes, discrimination or the hastening of their loved one death was caused by the refusal, failure to treat or a misdiagnosis.
10/08/2023
1) How many external advisors does the PHSO have? 2) How many external investigations have taken place in the last five years when complainants have disputed the ombudsman's findings: 1. From mishandling of a complaint 2. Or due to situations beyond complainant's control. 3) Have any external advisors been consulted on the legal use of the application of applying the one year rule to make a complaint to the ombudsman, before being' timed out'. *This also includes UK lockdown periods , when organisations were given leeway not to comply with 20 day work day responses from the Information Commissioner’s Office, which held up the ability of complainants to make complaints.
Do you hold stats, between 2018 and 2022, for ages relating to upheld complaints about the NHS, where: a) The complainant is aged 65 years or more, and is complaining on behalf of him or herself? b) The person on whose behalf the complaint has been submitted (irrespective of the age of the person doing so, and therefore, themselves, any age) is aged 65 years or more?
In order to ensure my understanding is correct I would very much like to submit the following supplementary questions: [A table of data provided by the PHSO in response to a previous FOI request appeared here in the requestor's email to us. The reference number for that request is 00001047.] 1. As the Complaints closed prior to detailed investigation (35151) is higher than the total Complaints received (35103) can we assume that the difference (-48) would relate to complaints received prior to 2022 but closed in 2022? 2. If only 615 of the 35103 complaints received in 2022 were passed for detailed investigation, this represents less than 2% of the complaints received. Is this correct? Your website states that around 25% of the complaints received progress from Step 1 When we first receive your complaint What happens? to Step 2 Deciding whether to investigate your complaint: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint/how-we-deal-complaints 3. Can we then say that more than 23% of complaints received fail to be progressed from Step 2 to Step 3 Investigating your complaint? 4. And, that this represents 93% of complaints which had progressed to Step 2? Of the reasons for closing the complaint, by far the largest is "Not ready for us" representing some 72% of dismissed complaints. 5. Presumably this would be because the complaint procedure with the organisation complained of has not been completed - is this assumption correct? 6. If so, could this be that complainees are hindered by the concurrent time limits of the PHSO and NHS? 7. Your figures suggest that not many of the "Not ready for us" category are re-submitted. Is this the case or could there be an element of double counting within these figures? Are you able to tell me how many of the 25192 complaints were subsequently re-submitted? 8. If you are able to add any further commentary, or managerial assessment, to inform my understanding of the figures, this would be greatly appreciated.
08/08/2023
We are already an approved supplier in various regions for the following Neutral/Master Vendors: • Etips /GRI/ Magnit Global • Matrix • Nueven/ Venneu • Hays • Addeco • Reed • Compass • Medacs • Retinue If you utilise any of these vendors, could you please furnish me with the appropriate contact name and contact number?
07/08/2023
Please may you provide me, in Microsoft Excel or an equivalent electronic format, with a list of invoices that were not paid within 30 days for the last 6 financial years (2017/18 to 2022/23 inclusive) which would feed into the Regulation 113 Notice you are required to publish each year as part of your obligations under The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, with the following information for each invoice (where available): • The name of the Supplier • Supplier email address • Supplier company registration number • Supplier postal address • Supplier telephone number • Supplier website • The date of the invoice • The invoice reference • The gross value of the Invoice • The date the invoice should have been paid by • The actual payment date of the invoice • The total amount of interest liability due to late payment of the invoice • The total amount of interest paid to the supplier due to late payment of the invoice. For the avoidance of doubt we request the data behind payment performance summaries for Regulation 113 Notices, not the summaries themselves. We expect that this information to be readily available and easily accessible in the electronic format requested given the necessity of source data which must have been required to prepare and produce the Regulation 113 Notice. If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, or for another reason, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request, my details are outlined below:
Therefore, this is both a Subject Access Request and Freedom of information Request to disclose any and all documents, records of internal communication regarding or pertaining to the volume of case load and waiting times that the PHSO holds. Specifically and generally as they apply and relate to my PHSO case and or other PHSO cases. CLARIFICATION RECEIVED: I think that it would therefore be more helpful if you could include any relevant information or documents regarding the case work process, including the intake process and how long it will likely take. To assist you in this it would be useful to know and provide the current caseworker load and estimated time for complaints to be finalised.
04/08/2023
I would like to make a freedom of information request for: the number of complaints received by the ombudsman in the year 2021/2022 regarding nhs trusts. The number of these complaints which took over 12 months to investigate. The longest time taken to investigate a complaint about the NHS submitted in the year 2021/2022.
I would like to know how many complaints were made to your organisation about Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust doctors Charing Cross especailly over the last three to four years. Can you confirm to me how many complaints were upheld and if any of the investigations that you undertook were about the Trust medical directors office failure to carry out serious incidents review or properley look in to deaths that were avoidable. Can you also confirm if any of the complainants alleged, that their was lack of duty of candour ,breach of duty of care,fraud,discrmination or the hastening of thier loved one death was caused by the doctors refusal,failure to treat or the misdiagnosis by any of the doctors involved at the Trust.
02/08/2023
Your Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023 states: 'This year we received 136 pieces of positive written feedback from people who had used our service and from organisations we investigate.' (p43) https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/886 PHSO Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 FINAL ONLINE.pdf 1. Please provide the number of (i) individuals and (ii) organisations that provided the feedback. 2. Please provide copies of the feedback with necessary redactions. 3. Please provide details of any changes you have made to the Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023 since it was first published online. 4. If 'individuals' includes people other than complainants, please specify the number of complainants.
01/08/2023
How many complaints have been made against each Energy Company each year for the last 5 years. How many of these complaints were upheld. How many times has the maximum award been made against each company. If the answer is none what is the highest award made and against whom was it made. Is the investigator legally responsible in a court of law for his decision. How do you appeal a blatantly wrong immoral decision.
28/07/2023
1. Does your organisation use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software? (Example: HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics, Other, etc.) • Yes • No 2. If yes, please specify which CRM(s) are used by your organisation: • HubSpot • Salesforce • Dynamics • Other (Please specify) 3. What license level/subscription does your organisation have? 4. What is the annual cost of your CRM system(s)? 5. List any job roles by (job title) within your organisation that communicate with contacts via the CRM(s) system? 6. Does your organisation work with any external agencies to manage the CRM? 7. Does your CRM integrate with other systems within your organisation? (Example: finance systems, Other CRM Systems, etc.) • Yes • No 8. If yes, please specify which other systems your CRM(s) are integrated with:
26/07/2023
Under the Freedom of Information Act, I request figures that reveal the amount of upheld complaints by the PHSO that related to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's decisions (or inactions) regarding complaints about the National Probation Service in 2021, 2022, and so far in 2023.