Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) comprises the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) and the Health Service Commissioner for England (HSC).

The Ombudsman is responsible for considering complaints by the public that UK Government departments, public authorities and the National Health Service in England have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service. In 2011–12, the Ombudsman handled just under 24,000 enquiries about Government departments and agencies and the NHS in England. Of these the Ombudsman resolved 23,889 enquiries – providing help and advice for 19,157 and looking closely at 4,732.

The Ombudsman is appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and is accountable to Parliament. The Ombudsman is independent of both the Government and the civil service and reports annually to both Houses of Parliament.

The current Ombudsman is Dame Julie Mellor who has held the post since January 2012.

The offices of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman are at Millbank Tower, London.

The creation of the post of the Parliamentary Ombudsman was spurred on by the 1954 Crichel Down affair and by the activism of pressure groups, including the Society for Individual Freedom. The position was created, and his or her powers are documented in, the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, the most notable section of which is section 4 and Schedule 2, which constrain the powers of the incumbent ombudsman. Amongst other things, the ombudsman cannot investigate personnel and commercial actions.

The position of HSC was created later, under the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993. The office of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman emphasises that it looks into complaints "that government departments, their agencies and some other public bodies in the UK – and the NHS in England – have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service." The first UK Ombudsman was Sir Edmund Compton who had previously been the Comptroller and Auditor General. He was succeeded by Sir Alan Marre, a career civil servant. He was the first Ombudsman appointed for the National Health Service and combined that role with that of the Parliamentary Ombudsman as have all his successors. He later became chairman of Age Concern and the post is currently held by Dame Julie Mellor DBE (since January 2012).

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