Health Service Commissioner for England (Complaint Handling) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-02-27
Topic: Health
Luciana Clare Goldsmith (Berger) (Labour, Centre-left): I add my congratulations to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) on the progress of his private Member’s Bill, which contains important reforms that we support The measures will rebalance the complaints procedure in favour of the citizen and away from the bureaucracy. If someone feels that they have been mistreated or have been the victim of a medical accident or malpractice, they deserve swift redress. What many complainants want is a clear decision, communicated swiftly, and assurances that the medical procedures and administrative processes have changed to prevent unnecessary harm or pain from happening to someone else. In fact, only last night, I met one of my constituents who is going through the process, and their primary motivation is that no other friend or family member should experience what they have gone through For most complainants, it is not about financial compensation. It is about justice. When a service such as the NHS lets someone down, the injustice feels so much worse because of the high regard in which it is held. I echo the comment of the right hon. Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Arbuthnot) that we should commend the thousands of men and women who work in our national health service and do such a wonderful job on a daily basis, but there are of course occasions when things do not go right. That is why the Bill is so important Long delays in getting answers to complaints merely exacerbate a problem and build a sense of grievance and alienation. People feel like they will never get answers and are being strung along, and of course that is not good enough. The right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden should therefore be congratulated on his Bill, which is entirely straightforward and has a simple, non-partisan approach and purpose. As others have said, it has wide support throughout the health service and in the ombudsman service itself, and I hope it will have support in all parts of the House when we conclude the debate Anyone listening to the tragic case of little Sam Morrish, which the right hon. Gentleman outlined this morning, cannot fail to recognise that this reform is needed. As the House has heard, it took the ombudsman more than two years to investigate and report on the national health service’s handling of Sam’s case. During that time, a series of factual errors were made, which Mr and Mrs Morrish repeatedly had to correct. It is fair to say that they were let down badly by the NHS. They lost their little boy, and the process that they had to endure to seek justice and redress took too long and compounded their tragedy. They deserve every ounce of sympathy that the House is capable of offering. I hope that they are listening and hear that we really are on their side The Patients Association, which supported the Morrish family in their complaints, said at the time that the ombudsman was not fit for purpose. Hon. Members of all parties will have had to refer constituents’ treatment in the NHS to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and some of those cases—not many—will have taken a great deal of time to be processed. One thing is clear: when the ombudsman falls short, it is essential that it is open and transparent. The idea of an annual report setting out the details of how long investigations and complaints have taken to be concluded is welcome. It makes a great deal of sense, because it will allow the public to see the amount of work that the ombudsman has had to do in a 12-month period and understand why, in some cases, it has had to take longer than 12 months to reach some kind of conclusion and resolution The Bill’s provision on accountability to Parliament and the public is an important change. It is a small one, but it will make a great difference to the ombudsman’s work and people’s confidence in it. It is also important to note that the ombudsman welcomes the call for greater transparency and openness about its performance Perhaps it is worth reflecting at this point on the fact that, since the ombudsman was established in 1967 to help Parliament to hold public services to account, there have been many reforms and changes. To its credit, it has embarked on a modernisation programme since 2012, and its statutory annual report to Parliament, "A voice for change", explains how, as a result of the first phase of that programme, it concluded six times more investigations in 2013-14 than in the previous year, completed 99% of cases within 12 months and halved the average length of investigations from 432 days to 223 days. That represents solid progress, and I congratulate the ombudsman’s staff on the work that they have done The reality is that there is still progress to be made, however, and I wish to press the Minister on two points, to which I hope she will be able to respond. On 31 March 2013, the ombudsman had a maximum of 30 NHS complaints that it had not concluded within 12 months. No figure was given in the annual report for 2013-14. Can the Minister share with us today, or perhaps in a letter, why there has been a delay in releasing the figure? I believe that we agree about the Bill, but I would like to hear why she thinks it will work I note that some have called for much wider changes to the ombudsman service—we have had an extensive debate about it over the past two and a half hours. I draw Members’ attention to the recommendations in the Public Administration Committee’s recent report, "Time for a People’s Ombudsman Service", which included proposals for different scrutiny arrangements that would make it easier for Parliament to hold public services to account. The Cabinet Office has given a commitment to the Committee that it will carry out a review of the ombudsman landscape, and the Opposition look forward to the outcome. With the indulgence of the House, perhaps the Minister will update us on whether that review has begun and what its scope is or will be, because that will shape the way in which the Bill is introduced I understand that the ombudsman has now launched the second phase of its modernisation programme, focusing on what people can expect from investigations and examining the quality of its service. I understand that it will consult NHS users and patients’ groups on the development of a new service charter, which is very welcome The age of deference has passed, and citizens expect high standards of service, real choices and accountability from their public services. The digital revolution allows the citizen to be more informed about their medical conditions and treatments than any other generation in history. The NHS in England treats 1 million people every 36 hours, and when things go wrong, as they inevitably will in an organisation of the size and complexity of the NHS, citizens have the right to honesty, transparency and swift redress. The Bill takes some important steps in the right direction. I look forward to its being passed.