Thank you for your letters dated 26 September 2015 and 8 October 2015 in which you made a request for information regarding the complaint investigation process at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). I note that some of your questions relate specifically to your complaint and as such I am unable to respond to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), though I will try to assist where possible.
I have responded to each query in turn below.
1.Would you please confirm that cases are only ever prioritised for allocation to an investigator if customers have cancer / terminally ill?
For the purposes of the freedom of Information Act 2000, I can confirm we do not hold recorded information on this topic.
However, you may find it helpful to know that it is not the case that complaints are only ever prioritised for allocation to an investigator if customers have cancer and/or are terminally ill. Cases can also be prioritised for a number of other reasons, which include:
- where cases have been subject to severe delays within PHSO or where an investigation has been re-opened following a review of our original decision and is to be reallocated to a different investigator;
- where a complainant is suffering financial difficulty and we might make recommendations to alleviate this;
- where a complainant has suffered the death of a child which might have been premature; and
- where a complainant is suicidal (and we might make recommendations to address factors which are or appear to be exacerbating that).
However, this is not an exhaustive list. We look to consider each case on its merits and it is possible that we would prioritise a case for another reason if, in all the circumstances, we thought that was appropriate.
2.Who receives the cases? For example are you referring to yourself, your team, your department or the date when the complaint was first received by the PHSO?
We don’t hold any recorded information about this. However, it might be helpful if I clarify that cases are allocated in order of when they are received by the PHSO, not by any particular team or individual.
3.What is the longest time a case on the list has been awaiting allocation, and what date was this complaint made to the PHSO?
As at 21 October 2015, the longest a complaint has been awaiting allocation is 147 days (104 working days).
4.What was the most recent date that your department allocated a case to an investigator?
Investigations are allocated to investigators almost every day. There were 29 cases allocated on 20 October 2015.
5.How many cases were allocated by your department to an investigator in each of the months of June 2015, July 2015, August 2015, September 2015 and October 2015?
There were 357 cases allocated in June, 326 in July, 324 in August, 283 in September and 491 so far in October.
6.Would you please let me know if the clock starts ticking on the date an assessment is completed and accepted for formal investigation or on the date a case has been allocated to an investigator?
We do not hold any recorded information about this. However, it might be helpful if I explain that the clock starts ticking when the complaint is received by the PHSO.
I hope this response is helpful. However, if you have any further queries about this letter, or wish to request an internal review of how I have handled your response then you can respond by writing to the address or calling the telephone number on the first page.
Yours sincerely
FOI/DP Officer