Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Reviews 

My pancreatic cancer was ignored (not missed) for 5 years. It was reported on by a radiologist on the first scan I had but consultants ignored her advice to investigate. Repeated scans showed the tumour. I was bullied and abused for being in pain. I suffered all the symptoms of pancreatic cancer but these too were ignored. When the truth and evidence re above emerged I was told that if I told anyone from the RSCH again. I told the PHSO who said none of the above was a problem and they did not consider ignoring cancer or a patient being bullied as a failing. Don’t go to them is my advice.

They are clearly only set up to protect the organisations they are supposed to oversee.
Bearing in mind they can only secure an apology, it is worrying that they won't even do that!
Had 3 complaints with them and all 3 they did nothing. All they good at is prolonging the complaint to get their money. This oraganisation needs to be put down. If this place remains open it enables other organisations to keep causing harm and not dping their duty of care.

I dont kniw how staff working at this place sleeps at nite. They be on phone with u telling u good news and letter arrives indifferent to what they said. They really font care until its them or their own family

My 75-year-old father was admitted to Southend Hospital with a suspected stroke, a frightening experience for him. Unfortunately, his time at the hospital turned into a nightmare. He was given three doses of lorazepam in less than 100 minutes while in A&E, followed by 19 days of continuous administration of the drug. This raised concerns as to whether this was the appropriate first-line treatment for a stroke patient, especially without prior testing. To make matters worse, his medical records were tampered with.

In addition to the inappropriate medication, my father was physically assaulted by an unqualified healthcare assistant over two days. The assault was witnessed by another staff member who reported the incident, leading to the assistant's dismissal. Despite lacking basic health and safety knowledge and assaulting my father, the assistant was allowed to continue working with vulnerable individuals. As a result of the assault, my father was left covered in bruises,and very frightened which was disregarded by the hospital staff.

The neglectful treatment continued as my father was denied proper nutrition and hydration, resulting in a significant weight loss. The staff's disrespectful and derogatory behavior towards him only added to his distress. Even after falling out of bed, he was only assisted back into bed without addressing the underlying issues like the large bump on his head

Furthermore, my father was repeatedly misdiagnosed, with one doctor even informing my mother that my father was dying, causing her immense emotional distress. The hospital's attempts to cover up the abuse and violence my father endured during his stay were evident.

Seeking assistance from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has unfortunately proven to be a frustrating experience. The assigned case worker has been unresponsive and dismissive of the information provided. Despite my efforts to communicate effectively, she has ignored emails and even went as far as to tell me not to hold my breath for a resolution. Additionally, the emails she sends are encrypted, making it impossible for me to access the information. I have repeatedly requested normal emails, but my requests have been ignored.

It is evident that the PHSO does not prioritize patient complaints regarding the NHS, leading to a sense of disillusionment among paitents and their families seeking justice. It appears that the organization may lean towards protecting the interests of the NHS and hospitals, rather than addressing the concerns of patients. This has resulted in a waste of time for me, and I believe there are many others who have faced similar challenges.

It is disheartening to witness an organization tasked with upholding accountability and fairness fall short of meeting the expectations of those seeking assistance.
with holding the NHS accountable fail to do so. The lack of accountability at hospitals like Southend highlights we have a very serious problem within the NHS and this need to be investigated.

Why I am unhappy with the service level ( please note I was not challenging the decision).

My aim was to assist the PHSO service level when I note they hold a 98% one star rating on Trust Piolet.

I made an online complaint about a GP.

After a period of time, I was contacted by what I consider a very unhelpful person who was more interested in stopping my complaint going forward and questioning me in a way that made me feel like I was a nuisance. I felt demoralised and not listened too. The lady was abrupt and I would say rude.

Due to my skills when I was employed, I was able to set out my case and to the obvious annoyance of the advisor I was told that the case would be put forward.

I felt I was in a battle to be listened too.

I was asked to provide significant amounts of information which I provided to the PHSO. Replies received were confusing and lacking in clarity so I needed to keep asking for clarification.

I was then questioned at length about the reason for my complaint and I became totally confused by the tatics employed to prevent an investigation. The matter was escalated to the Operations Manager who explained I did not meet the criteria for investigation which I accepted.

I was told that only serious cases are taken forward , I was made to feel that a mental health issue was marginalised over a physical failing with a hip operation quoted to me.

I was told the way the PHSO worked was changes and funds didn't allow my case as important.

When I questioned the service level I was told that I had no right of redress and I was sent information that made me feel worthless and that I was being vexatious or unreasonable and that my email would not be responded too. I was refused the name of the person who was responsible for the Operation Manager’s conclusions on the basis that The Operation Manager’s say was final unless I took court action.

Please note I was concerned about service level and Equality Act issues and not the compliant decision.

I explained that my concerns were not because my complaint had not been taken forward or accepted and more the standard of service and the way the matter had been dealt with.

In my opinion the Operations Manager seemed annoyed because I was able to articulate my concerns in a professional manner and so instead of working with me to address the service standard (not the complaint rejection) then all avenues of trying to make matters better were blocked by using a policy to deter abusive or users that were being unreasonable.

I would rate this service and staff useless. If you complain they will tell you your unreasonable and the Operations Manager is final - no right to question their judgement.

I explained the Equality Act appeared to have been breached and the reasoning to the Operations Manager who sent a standard text letter that I was acting in an unacceptable way and failed to give the name or address of the person I could contact about the service level.

In my opinion the messages received from the Operations Manager were designed to prevent me from trying to take matters , quite reasonably to a higher level on the basis I was being insistent and not accepting the decision made.

The Operations Manager appeared only interested in protecting their own position by refusing any avenues to comment on the service level.

All communications were defensive and in so many words stated that if I was unhappy then I would need to take legal action which clearly the Operations Manger knew would not be an option.

I was also threatened with the abusive policy guidance which was clearly being used out of context to prevent me from complaining about the Operations Manager service standard ( I was not appealing the decision of my case it should be noted) .

In my opinion the Operations Manager should not prevent service level concerns being made and should provide the details of an independent
person that I could contact i.e. a customer service engagement executive.

The process I have endured has resulted in a negative feedback on Trust piolet and damaged the reputation of the valuable role PHSO should be playing in the improvement of Public bodies for which we all pay tax.

They are clearly only set up to protect the organisations they are supposed to oversee.
Bearing in mind they can only secure an apology, it is worrying that they won't even do that!
I requested an apology from a "quack" doctor who said my physical condition was all in my mind. I provided proof, but the PHSO says it's acceptable for an unqualified "quack" to make a judgement and diagnosis about something they had no experience or qualifications in.
What, then, is the purpose of the PHSO? It can only be to shield from criticism.
In other words, a total waste of time and public money.
I suggest scrapping the PHSO and saving money.

Нации пролили свою кровь в течение пяти лет жестокой войны за свободу и независимость своих стран, а не за то, чтобы обменять господство Гитлера на господство. Поэтому вполне вероятно, что неанглоязычные страны, в число которых входит подавляющее большинство населения мира, не согласятся принять новое рабство

As a Government controlled quango the PHSO is supporting NHS negligent deaths despite calls for reform and intelligent scrutiny for many years. It has an atiquted ticbox system which has never been scrutinised for appropriate purpose while still holding it up as an 'exemplar' system. Traumatised complainants are mentally assulted and punished just for beinging compaints to phso notice. Workers there from lowest customer services to top management appear to be fixated on promoting themselves and their 'miwssion' whilst working with defendant's lies. There's not a scrap of understanding of complinant trauma and appear to relish causing further distress on top of that inflicted by (e.g.) NHS deceit, maladministration, and injuries caused. I asked them to investigate the mental harm, ostracisation and subsequent death of my son. After years of appeals, phso obstructive dismissals and my personal fact-finding, all to no avail, the PHSO chief's parting comments were that to investigate specific PHSO actions and harmful slanders by BSMHFT, were "beyond my expectations" for them to investigate. /r Neither my NHS case nor PHSO complaints of serious mental harm to me, were never resolved. /n I was left to survivive on permanent nhs medication having to seek private counselling for traumatic PHSO medacities, gaslighting, predisposition and bias, and blatant collusion with the amply-resourced defendants like BSMHFT.

my father was murdered at Musgrove Park Hospital. The PHSO investigation was so poor they didn't even get my fathers cause of death right. These people act for the NHS to help cover up wrongdoing by their paymasters. do not waste your time!!!

Absolutely disgusting deplorable way to not do anything about the vile abuse I have had by surgery managers and corrupt doctors. Just because I had no idea about time limits. You have just allowed the most disturbing hateful behavior to go on. It's always the same when it's got anything to do with government. My life is in danger because you did NOTHING. I have no access to healthcare whatsoever. I hope that you are happy allowing the most horrendous abuse to continue. It leaves me to feel that there's only one way of recourse.I am not being abused anymore. You disgust me. I have no hope. When you tell a doctor, twice that you are very worried about throat cancer and the doctors do nothing, what am I meant to do? Truly pissed off with your time limits. Why should it be that I can't get any healthcare, why should I have to put up with nasty abuse?, And it's just because of your time constraints. A blanket rule like this means that you are letting so much terrible treatment to go unpunished. There are cases like mine where time limits should be set aside. I am experiencing acute pains in my chest, I told the doctor only to be ignored yet again. And I am 80% sure that I have throat cancer but I have no chance, I am already dead, it's too late for me to have any chance to survive, and you did NOTHING. I doubt that I will ever get diagnosed with cancer because I will never get referred to a cancer doctor. This is just because of your time limits. So freaking wrong.

One star because I can't leave zero stars or a minus which would be more appropriate. My Dad was a dialysis patient in St Helier who failed to provide my Dad with 3.5 hours dialysis three times a week, leaving my Dad distraught and vulnerable, having been diagnosed with sepsis. His potassium shot up to over 6 and he died. I provided the PHSO with plenty of evidence about everything that my Dad went through, including his post mortem report. All of which was emotionally devastating to experience and relive to tell it all to the PHSO. Despite all the negative reviews about the PHSO, I felt confident, given all the evidence I provided, that my complaint would be upheld. However, it wasn't. The outcome recognised that my Dad had less dialysis than he needed but they said it had no consequences. Now I'm not clinical but even I know that increasing urea, creatinine and potassium are killers for a dialysis patient. All of this was shown on the blood tests my Dad had in hospital. Even more devasting, was at the end of the PHSO outcome, it was noted that I was one of at least three people who had complained about the same thing at that very same hospital, St Helier. But still the PHSO did not uphold mine or the other complaints. So I would suggest an online petition being made about the scope and purpose of the PHSO and lobby your MP with your experiences. Be mindful of the trauma of not being heard or believed when we all know we have experienced crap care at the hands of so called professionals. If you are, like me, bereaved then keep your heart full of the love the one who passed will always have for you and no one can take that away from you.

I am a NHS professional and complained to the ombudsman about the care a close friend received from his GP which was a possible life or death situation. I echo everyone else's comments - a utterly useless organisation that has lost its moral compass if it ever had one. Patronising, ignorant, and dismissive. My advice sad to say would be to not even bother and if you feel you have a strong case, use litigation instead.

I’d give minus 5 if I could. Don’t expect an independent investigation from these inexperienced people. They will always find in the other person’s favour. They conducted an investigation after a close family member ended up hospital and nearly died because a GP misdiagnosed him and the PHSO found the doctor did nothing wrong when there were obvious signs of mistakes. The case worker cherrypicked information and ignored what I said. For example the GP made a serious medication error when he forgot to prescribe vital medication. When the caseworker wrote the final report, this was omitted. Then afterwards I asked the caseworker why she had not commented on the medication error she said it wasn't part of the orginal scope. Looking back through the caseworkers own notes it WAS part of the scope. However, when the scope was released internally she added the medication error to the 'background' section and so therefore was not considered. Then when I asked why this was left out they blamed me by saying "well we did email you and you said you were happy to go ahead with the scope". So therefore it was my fault for not noticing THEIR mistake. However, looking back through that email, it didn't contain the 'background' section at all so there was no way I could have known the medication error would be added here. Furthermore, she repeatedly said the email was only brief summary and my assumption was the full scope would contain the medication error but didn't. Finally, when the finally investigation was released online and a letter sent to me, it did contain the 'background' section this time but made no mention of the medication error whatsoever. This is either a serious administration mistake or a deliberate attempt to cover up information. Either way the PHSO is not fit for purpose.

I took park in some “paid” user testing research for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. After the session they took my bank account information and assured me I would receive payment within 30 days (which is excessive in the first place). It has now been more than 6 weeks, I have chased them 3 times and still received nothing.
Looking at other people’s reviews on here, it seems they couldn’t care less about their users

They might as well close as they don’t help at all!
I have issue with my 16yr old daughters dentist she’s on the waiting list to remove 4teeth she’s is in pain and they said there’s nothing they can do as she’s under nhs treatment i have to wait till is her turn or do it private, I can’t afford to pay £800 to do it, I rung them to ask for advice and all they said is nothing I can do just have to wait while she keeps getting pain on and off!

Another beyond a bad joke of a tax payer fund service pretending to be impartial when they're not. I called up about a serious problem with my GP Practice, which I've been apart of since its inception, and prior to it, having lived in the same town my whole life. When I complained that the Practice hadn't relied to my formal email of complaint, the uninterested jobsworth at the other end of the line told me that there's nothing that the PHSO could do until I received a reply back to my complaint. Well, that's just great, isn't it? All your GP Practice has to do is simply ignore a patients complaint indefinitely and nothing will come of it. Bravo, well done. Another win for the powers that be.

Shockingly bad.
These people wasted my time for 2 years, creating work, asking questions, clarifications, only to conclude that I had not complained properly as I didn't understand the quagmire of NHS acronyms. Completely useless. They should be shut down.

Not fit for purpose, like all the services in the uk, patronising. I was polite started saying I was speaking over him, to the contrary couldn't address any of my valid points, I don't think they like it when we have an opinion that favours our own interests, I hung up, don't waste your time, it’s frustrating enough to have to resort to using these services and when they aren’t helpful why bother.

Do not waste your time. Everyone should stop using this organisation to have it shut down

Bought off

They kept me waiting for months and months with my mother evidently on too low a dosage of Olanzapine and who is likely to get brain damage because of it and despite having provided evidence that the 'doctor' of the OPMH who was (mis)treating my mother had made his decisions prior to even viewing her and other incontrovertible proof of patient-abuse closed the case with the excuse made that my desired outcomes did not match with what they could achieve, and this was a load of nonsense as we had already had hour-and-a-half long conversations where such details had been made clear.

They were paid off. This is typical ombudsman behaviour. Communist, basically.

To be clear, there is no real appeals service in the face of patient-abuse in Devon and I would imagine that this is the same across the country.

Murderers allowed to get away with their crimes. Each person who does not assist as they should is complicit.

The PHSO told me they will only investigate cases that result in permanent injury or death. ( Jan 25)
One case was my discharge with a blocked kidney when a doctor did not look at a scan.
The second case was when my late wife was prescribed drugs on two occasions to which she was allergic , because of the NHS's incompatability of computer systems. This was admitted by the hospital, but nothing has changed.