Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Avis 

Yet another organisation funded by government that does nothing but cover things up. There are also many people within our nhs that are registered with the nmc that are not legal in the U.K. or even qualified to work. I know of a situation whereby a man is impersonating a senior mental health nurse, he has then been signing people off allowing them to practice putting the public at unprecedented risk. NMC are then left to deal with the long list of hearings that can only be explained due to what I have previously stated. Hundreds of negative reviews and just 4 positive ones lol

I came to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman as a last resort, after serious concerns about how Cafcass handled my case in Chelmsford. This was not just about a “disagreement” or a court order I didn’t like. It was about clear procedural failures – rushed work, factual errors and a lack of proper consideration of key evidence – in a report that affects when and how I can see my children.

The Ombudsman’s correspondence with me has been astonishing and deeply discouraging. In their own letters, they accept that they can look at procedures and process. That is supposed to be their role: to examine whether public bodies have followed a fair and proper process. Yet in my case, after I raised detailed and legitimate concerns, they simply decided that on this occasion they are not going to investigate. No clear or convincing explanation. Just “we could review this – but we won’t.”

I wrote back, clarified my complaint and made it absolutely clear this is about process, not asking them to overturn a court order. I even had support from my MP in taking the matter to them. Still, the end result is the same: doors closed, box ticked, case shut.

What this experience tells me is that for the ordinary person, the Ombudsman is not a real safeguard. If a public body mishandles your case, you are told to complain to the Ombudsman. When you get there, you are told they could look at process – but for reasons you can’t influence, your case is one they simply choose not to touch. Meanwhile, decisions that shape your relationship with your own children remain built on flawed foundations.

Looking through other reviews, it seems I am far from alone. It feels like an institution that is effectively unaccountable, even though the public ultimately pays for it. If you have the money to pursue judicial reviews and top-level legal teams, you might have options. If you’re just a normal person trying to challenge a public body, you end up stuck in limbo.

This is not how oversight and justice are meant to work. When people come to an Ombudsman, it is usually because every other avenue has failed. To then be told “we could look at this, but we’re not going to” is not only insulting – it undermines trust in the entire system that is supposed to protect the public.

Like everyone else I am appalled and won’t ever bother taking anything to them again. They’ve wasted my time twice now. The first time they refused to investigate with the excuse it was over their 12 month deadline which it wasn’t at all and they were perfectly happy that the NHS had nearly killed me. The second time it took 14 months to receive a response which was almost exactly the same as the response I got from the surgery I was complaining about. The person dealing with it didn’t bother keeping me updated, I kept having to ask, to be given excuse after excuse. In the end she didn’t even manage to get my address right. Then they had the cheek to inform me they might use it on their website so I told them they most certainly are not using it for their own purposes after wasting my time for so long. Seriously, don’t bother. You WILL be wasting your time. They claim to be independent of the NHS but go out of their way to enable their bad practices. Their very existence is nothing more than a token gesture to all the people who have been terribly let down by this ridiculous country.

If I could give your organization no stars I would.Quitr honestly I don't know why this farcical organization is allowed to exist.As a very broken mum I turned to you for help hoping you would make the experts apologize and change the way they work.
That same day whilst taking my dogs for a walk I met a neighbor .I told him that the Ombudsman are taking on my case.He said to read all the reviews and don't get my hopes up as the organization is toothless and all they do is protect the hospital but not the public.We waited over 9 m for an answer.When it came it was a great let down.
My daughter was at the QE hospital for 6 weeks during lockdown.We were not allowed to visit.Due to her very low BMI she was teased and told that she did this to herself.She had major surgery in 2011 for a large cancerous tumor.She had to have half her stomach removed with difficult plumbing.This cause her to suffer malnutrition.The great expert who walk around with title as senior gastroenterologist consultant failed to recognize this.Perhaps reading her notes would have been helpful.The atmosphere on the ward was toxic.They kept searching her bag to see if she was hiding food.She was followed in the toilet.They kept moving her around 3 am to put her in another ward or bay just when she was trying to sleep.On the forth time when they came to move her she asked to be discharged home.When I complained to the ward,they were worse to her.In the end she begged me not to say anything.The nurses not all were busy with the mobile phone rather than answering the buzzers.Many time my daughter would go to help mostly elderly parents.She never had a drip .So it was not surprising when you mentioned that she was found interfering with the drip.She had a gastric naso feed tube.She kept feeling like it was chocking her.
You said the confusion was that she was under 3 hospitals.When she lived at home she was treated at the QE hospital Birmingham.Because her cancer was rear she took part at the Addenbrook hospital for research .She lived in London and was treated at the London Free Hospital.When she moved back home after 7 years.She was working as a Field Manager for Google when she feel ill again.This time she was treated again at the Q E Birmingham.Whats the confusion?
She was sent home after 6 weeks with no follow-up appointments.She came out of hospital only slightly better.Her feeding tube came out whilst asleep.She tried in vain to get it put back with no call back from the ward . After her death going through her most begging emails as a mum I fine it hard to believe that she was let down so badly.
She was then let down by the GP surgery.She had emergency blood and it was not treated with the urgency it needed by a rotational GP learner . 2 week's later when she collapsed and was treated at the Heartland Hospital they could not believe why she was not seen earlier.They fourth very hard to keep her alive but it was as usual all too much and too late.7 weeks after she passed away she had an appointment at the QE hospital.Its a tragedy what is taking place at the hospital.Its hit and miss treatment.
In a factory we have quality control.In the hospital unless the structure at the top is not changed, change will never happen.No amount of money can do that. No one is listening.And when you could have made a difference into shining a light and getting some transparency, you too build our hopes up and then produce 6 pages of nonsense.
We are a very broken family.Had my daughter given the expert care she so desperately needed she would have been here today.
As a clinician and a mum nothing will bring her back to us. It's time for your organization to make a difference.Life is precious,stop protecting the hospitals .
Heartbroken mum.

I've never seen such poor reviews. Clearly a waste of government funding for an ombudsman that it not fit for purpose. Unfortunately, my experience is similar to 99% of others on here. Complaint was batted away with minimal effort or investigation and defaulted to jump to the defence on the NHS.

Scum of the earth this lot not surprised the country’s as messed up as it is don’t waste your time just do things the old fashioned way eye for an eye don’t waste your time trying to deal with this scum they had there chance

My complaint related to the Mental health trusts decision to remove me from the Care Programme approach.
A very long drawn out process and from the start you are informed you will have to jump many hurdles to get your case heard by the Ombudsman rather than a case worker. The case workers go out of their way to find reasons to reject your complaint.
Basically, the Ombudsman is not fit for purpose. They defend abject failure on the part of the NHS hiding behind legal and policy issues. The Ombudsman went out of its way to weaken or ignore all aspects of my argument and concerns whilst embracing all aspects of the NHS defence. My wife and I were left in tears when the case worker telephoned. He seemed to take great pleasure in summarily dismissing my case. A total waste of time and effort and I will never use the service again. Totally biased irrespective of what they say. Awful awful experience deserving of all the 1 star ratings. My local NHS Trust will be exhonerated by the Case workers conclusions and justice is far from being served. The process has worsened my mental health but at least the Ombudsman will sleep at night knowing how well they are defending the NHS through woeful failure.

It would appear that health officials can write what they like about you and you have absolutely no come back as long as that health officials organisation states that they will respond to a letter even after a year.
I had this experience, it made me suicidal with the things written about me. the organisation just kept stating that they will respond at sometime but they were short of staff. The Parliamentary Ombudsmen accepted this excuse and closed my trust.
A total and utter waste of money and they need to be scrapped.
Be very guarded with what you say to health officials. I will never trust anyone in the NHS again

How this farcical organisation is allowed to exist is beyond me. They will gaslight you into a stupor and wear you down until you lose the will to live.

A surgeon allowed a trainee to practice on me without my knowledge or consent. I would never have known had Mr Trainee not screwed up big time. After being lied to, the hospital said a trainee "had been involved".

Phso said it was all my own fault because I agreed to have the operation.

This third-rate wreckage is staffed by scoundrels and buffoons of the worst kind who gain pleasure from antagonising aggrieved patients.
Phso is a malignant hive of unprofessionalism, malice and dishonesty.

Cruel, heartless, and useless
The PHSO is nothing but a taxpayer-funded sham. They give grieving families false hope, drag cases out for years, and then side with the NHS using desk clerks who have zero medical knowledge. See the job specs which can be found online and you can see for yourself. They ignored evidence in my son’s preventable death, overlooked record tampering, and made life-and-death judgments without clinical expertise. They don’t investigate — they delay, dismiss, and protect the system. A disgraceful, heartless organisation that re-traumatises families and blocks accountability. Dont waste your time. If I had known what i know now i would not have wasted my time with them CQC is much better option. Avoid the ombudsman and save yourself the heartache and false hope.Caseworkers? Case workers have Zero clinical qualifications – just admins trained in paperwork, summarizing docs, and IT deadlines. They swallow selective Trust records without verification, dismiss submitted evidence, and lack even mandatory NHS knowledge. .Their "skills" are generic office stuff. The PHSO is a complete joke — a waste of taxpayers’ money. Do your research: even the previous Ombudsman admitted the system is riddled with gaps and frustrations before resigning. There’s only one Ombudsman at the top, and your case will never reach them. Instead, it gets handled and closed by junior admin-level caseworkers with no medical expertise. Families dealing with preventable deaths are strung along, ignored, and betrayed. They are there to protect the NHS and not give you any justice or accountability. I only researched now after suffering so much distress and being let down by the people i thought were there to give families justice.waste of tax payers money. They should not exist.

My father died after catastrophic injuries from an “unwitnessed” fall in St. Mary’s Hospital, Isle of Wight. The hospital admitted failings — wrong ward, no oxygen, repeated discharges, no safety measures. He was left in a corner, neglected.

Three days later, he died.

I escalated my complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. I had three different case handlers with limited updates on the case throughout. These delays are not accidental — by the time the PHSO finally “assess” (or avoid) a case, it’s too late for families to challenge legally. They even tell you to approach solicitors for a “no win, no fee” opinion, only to later decide the NHS isn’t at fault.

The PHSO is supposed to hold the NHS accountable. Instead, their delays protect it from scrutiny and leave grieving families powerless.

Death is inevitable. Neglect is not. And the PHSO should not be helping cover it up.

Following advice from the Planning Inspectorate, I submitted a complaint to the PHSO in May 2025 concerning a minor rear extension. The primary issue was a purported 22-day delay in receiving my appeal against East Suffolk’s Council decision to refuse planning permission for a minor single-storey rear extension on my private land. This delay has had significant effects on my exclusion, quality of life, amenity, and has resulted in financial cost. I also strongly maintain that this account of the delay is inaccurate and contend that this did not fairly account for the extended Christmas holiday period, my ongoing complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) and the service limitations during this festive season.
The PHSO did not apply reasonable discretion to reduce the disadvantages faced by vulnerable individuals such as myself, nor did it initiate a review with the Planning Inspectorate despite having the authority to do so.
The PHSO also possesses discretion in extending time limits but did not exercise this option.
The reasons provided for this lack credibility and appear insufficient.
Consequently, it is my position that the PHSO'S decision was neither properly nor fairly considered and contributed to the creation of discriminatory barriers.
I also kept the Chief Executive and Director informed, both of whom have the power to intervene, but no action has been taken.
I have concerns regarding the effectiveness of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) as an appropriate use of public funds and growing apprehension that the PHSO has not exercised discretionary powers to mitigate disadvantages and ensure equality. This raises questions about the institution’s ability to fulfill its intended role impartially and proportionally.

I had cause to complain to my local GP surgery and got no response or engagement from them. Having tried a number of times to engage them to look in to the issues, I finally escalated the matter to the Hampshire & IoW ICB. I cc'd the surgery in the communication raising the now complaint to the ICB. Within an hour of sending the escalation, the GP surgery responded with an emailed letter. It made minimal reference to the issues originally raised and contained an insincere apology. At the time I was surprised by the speed they acted, but it seems this was all a ploy... The ICB responded to my complaint by saying that as the local GP surgery had written back to me, they now couldn't get involved! So a simple, insincere, hastily cobbled together letter by the GP surgery is able to block any ICB oversight. Clearly this raises the concern the local GP practice new how to "game" the system and block any ICB intervention, so maybe it does really have something to hide.
Be aware if you do wish to complain, the NHS oversight isn't there to help you as a patient. I raised this major failing in the complaints process with the PHSO. What a waste of time and effort that proved to be. The people their seem to be solely focused on directing you away from the service and have little regard for the failings of public bodies. If you can't resolve the matter locally, don't look to the ICB or PHSO for help!

Have to agree with many here don’t bother. You spend a year going through the process give accurate information and details and they side with the clinical teams. I’m not sure why we have them as an advocacy for patients.

I complained to the ombudsman , my complaint failed as they said to much time had past even though I complained within twelve months of realising my doctor lied to me ( he still works for the NHS ) I believe the ombudsman is NOT independent , it exists to protect the NHS

Reading the completely negative reviews reflects also my experience. It seems completely incomprehensible that an organisation such as this gets so many negative reviews and nothing appears to happen to hold them to account. The review and poem by Lucy is so indicative of the problems and is clearly written by an intelligent and talented person. Over the years we have had cause to use the PHSO twice, firstly sometime ago in connection with a Continuing Care matter in relation to my wife’s late Mother, that was a complete waste of effort and they clearly sided with the NHS who did everything possible to avoid paying for continuing care.
My most recent experience was in connection with a complaint about our GP Service or lack of it.
Even though substantial documentary evidence was produced and audio files of a telephone consultation with a GP, disclosed following our GDPR request, the PHSO dodged around the clear evidence, dancing on the head of pin to find no fault, in fact they were really not interested it seemed unless you had died, claiming due to lack of resources they have to target what they would regard as more serious matters.
I even wrote direct a personal letter of complaint about their so called investigator to Rebecca Hilsenrath their CEO, what happened, the letter was passed back to the very person I was complaining about for them to respond !! Completely outrageous. Sadly experience with the PHSO and some of these other so called Ombudsman has been exactly the same, none of them are fit for purpose!

O faithless hands, who justice falsely claim,
The PHSO hath brought itself to shame.
With careless hearts and tongues that twist the truth,
They mocked my pain and scorned both age and youth.

Their codes they broke with bold and open face,
No grievance heard, no proof they did embrace.
Unfit-picked guides were sent no word from me—
Just records flawed, bereft of clarity.

Those poor advisors, ill-equipped and bare,
Were left to guess what wrongs had brought me there.
The facts, though firm, were turned upon their head,
And lies were dressed as truths, their bonds to shed.

Their findings false, their process naught but jest,
A travesty that gave my soul no rest.
Their bias plain, their justice but a show—
A shadow court where truth may never go.

And when I cried, “this judgment is untrue,”
Their guard of truth denied what they must do.
They claimed, untrue, they fix but facts alone,
And left my deeper wounds to bleed, unknown.

So crushed was I, so burnt, so cast aside,
I could not seek the courts, though law applied.
And thus fiends walk away, untouched by blame,
As did the cause of Post Office shame.

Let no man say this beast hath served us well—
It fosters rot where virtue once did dwell.
A hollow court, where truth is cast aside,
Where justice begs, and knaves in shadows hide.

It shields the wrong, and strikes the just man's plea,
While draped in robes of false integrity.
Our Country's Health falls like stone,
When none are held to task but left alone.

The public scorned, their voices mocked and marred,
Their wounds made sport, their sufferings unbarred.
And all this waste, this cruel, corrupt parade,
Is paid by coin the honest poor have made.

Then let it fall—this blight, this foul pretense!
Tear down the gate that guards incompetence.
No more shall such a knave consume our trust:
Strike out its name, and grind its form to dust.

I would have put zero star if I could! My case demonstrates just how pointless this organisation is funded by HM Treasury (us taxpayers!). I had a late diagnosis of ovarian cancer by my GP who for a year put my symptoms down to the menopause. When I was diagnosed I was at stage 4b with 2-3 months to live without any treatment. I complained to my GP and of course they came back stating they had followed all processes and after reviewing themselves they had done nothing wrong. I decided I didn't want to go down a malpractice route and all I wanted was for my complaint, the GP's response to be put onto my NHS App. My GP Surgery refused this and said complaints were put on a different system and not possible to upload to my NHS App. I went to the PHSO and they advised they were closing my complaint as the 'outcome sought is not achievable' and as an independent service, separate of the NHS they do not have the remit, legally or otherwise, to instruct the Surgery to add communications to my NHS App. My question is 'WHAT POWERS DO THEY HAVE'?! My request must be the simplest thing possible so if they can't do this what can they do?

The Ombudsman investigating failed to reply to 3 emails over a 6 month period, agreed the GP was at fault but failed to enforce the recommended compensation, claiming he could "only ask if they were willing to compensate." Nver heard such rubbish in my life!

If you want to know how the PHSO plays the game, just look at the score line.

The truth is Ombudsmen are completely valueless to man or beast. They are an ‘age-old’ government-concocted scam/dis-service, purely for display and made to disable any complaint you can barely throw at them.

I have a number of full-on experiences and discovered this is how they achieve their ‘goal’.

You send in all of your factual and irrefutable evidence collated over years, they then ignore every single scrap of it (by not even opening your PDF), and base their entire conclusion on the lying teeth of the health service/institution that has just made ‘clinical negligence and abuse’ fashionable. *simples*

Yes, I am trying to be extremely ironic, but horrendously, every single word I say, is true.