Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
On Thursday 30 November in Manchester, we held our first ever Open Meeting, one of our new initiatives to engage with the people who use our service and the organisations we investigate and work with.
I want to start by thanking everyone who attended. Your contributions to and feedback on the day are very valuable and will help us to understand how we can further improve our service.
In my opening remarks I emphasised the need to build trust in our service. We are moving forward, but we can further improve by being more open and transparent, by increasing engagement with our stakeholders, and – most importantly – by listening and learning.
Important insights to inform our new strategy
The Open Meeting was a good start in forging these stronger partnerships, and we will use the important insights gained throughout the day to inform the development of our new strategy.
It is 50 years since Parliament set up the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Things have changed in that time, but what has not changed – and what the Open Meeting re-emphasised – is how important it is that we clearly communicate our role and how we work to all our stakeholders.
At the end of the day, when participants were asked if they had found the event valuable, I was delighted to see the majority of delegates’ hands in the air. We also sent out a feedback survey to attendees and 94% of those who responded agreed or strongly agreed that they found the meeting useful.
Find out more
If you were unable to attend, I encourage you to read our online summary of the opening talks and the key themes taken from the breakout sessions. The live stream of the opening talks and Q&A session is available in two parts on our YouTube channel.
I look forward to seeing you at the next Open Meeting which will be held in London in May 2018, shortly after the publication of our new strategy.
