Press releases

A 65-year-old man died after doctors failed to notice serious abnormalities on his X-ray, an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has revealed. The investigation comes a year after a landmark report by the Ombudsman highlighted failings in...

A woman who reported a sexual assault overseas was “treated with contempt” and failed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the public services watchdog has found. Ms B contacted FCDO to report that she had been raped while...

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) have released new guidance to tackle common and repeated mistakes seen in the aftercare of patients receiving support under the Mental Health Act. PHSO...

The Environment Agency (the Agency) caused prolonged suffering and years of uncertainty to a South-West family business when it refused to fix mistakes made during an application to harness a renewable energy source.   Brothers Steve and Ewan Earl run a...

Public services would be significantly improved if complaints made about central Government departments were easier to make and quickly resolved, the public sector watchdog has said, as new Complaint Standards are unveiled by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Published...

A man died after an NHS trust failed to diagnose and treat sepsis quickly enough, a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigation has found. Stephen Durkin, a factory worker from Hereford, died after suffering organ failure from sepsis. The life-threatening...

Over 118,000 people with disabilities and health problems are facing injustice by the Department of Work and Pensions after being denied the right to compensation following a government blunder over benefit payments, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has said...

As ombudsman organisations from across the globe gather in Manchester this week, the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) has ‘strongly endorsed’ support for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to have access to ‘safe space’. Proposed new UK Government legislation...

Three vulnerable people living in the UK were locked out of accessing the justice system to challenge deportation orders because of conflicting government procedures and lengthy delays. These are the findings of a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigation...

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found failings in the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated changes to women’s State Pension age. The 1995 Pensions Act changed the law so that women would no longer...