PHSO out of court settlements

The request was refused by Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

In a recent Freedom of Information request regarding out of court settlements agreed by the PHSO, there were two in 2015/16 and one in 2016/17 - and two of these three cases were followed by a further investigation. Please provide the following information:

1. For each of the three cases, was the litigation brought by employers (e.g. NHS Health Authority), employees (e.g. staff such as doctors or nurses who were investigated - if so indicate their job title), or members of the public (e.g. people who had made complaints against the employer or employee).

2. For each of the three cases, the grounds for the litigation e.g. procedural unfairness.

2. For each of the three cases, the country of residence and ethnic origin of the claimants who brought the litigation against the PHSO.

3. In the two cases that involved a further investigation, please provide:
a. The date of commencement of the further investigations.
b. The date of completion of the further investigations.
c. The outcome of the further investigations with respect to going in favour or against the claimant.
d. If the further investigations are still in process, and have passed the one year period, give a reason for this.

Yours faithfully,

cathy dunne

informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

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Dear Ms Dunne

 

Thank you for your email requesting information held by the Parliamentary
and Health Service Ombudsman.

 

Your request will be responded to in line with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. A response will be sent to you on or before 16^th February 2018
in line with the statutory timeframes set out in the Act.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information/Data Protection Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

W: [1]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()

This will be interesting - thanks for asking.

InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Cathy Dunne

 

RE: Your information request: FDN - 275009

 

I write in response to your email of 19^th January 2018 in regards to your
request for information held by the Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman (PHSO). Your request has been handled under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

You have requested the following:

 

In a recent Freedom of Information request regarding out of court
settlements agreed by the PHSO, there were two in 2015/16 and one in
2016/17 - and two of these three cases were followed by a further
investigation.  Please provide the following information:

 

1. For each of the three cases, was the litigation brought by employers
(e.g. NHS Health Authority), employees (e.g. staff such as doctors or
nurses who were investigated - if so indicate their job title), or members
of the public (e.g. people who had made complaints against the employer or
employee).

 

2.  For each of the three cases, the grounds for the litigation e.g.
procedural unfairness.

 

3. For each of the three cases, the country of residence and ethnic origin
of the claimants who brought the litigation against the PHSO.

 

4. In the two cases that involved a further investigation, please provide:

a. The date of commencement of the further investigations.

b. The date of completion of the further investigations.

c. The outcome of the further investigations with respect to going in
favour or against the claimant.

d. If the further investigations are still in process, and have passed the
one year period, give a reason for this.

 

With regards to Questions 1 and 2 of your request, this information is
held only by virtue of being contained within documents created for the
purpose of court proceedings. As such, this information has been withheld
under Section 32(1)(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

With regards to Question 3, this information is not held.

 

With regards to Question 4, the Ombudsman’s legislation specifies that
investigations must be conducted in private and that information obtained
for the purpose of an investigation may only be disclosed in certain
circumstances as set out in Section 11 of the Parliamentary Commissioners
Act 1967 and Section 15 of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993.
Section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 states that information
does not have to be disclosed under the Act if another Act of Parliament
states that information requested cannot be disclosed. Consequently, this
information is exempt from release under Section 44 of the Act. 

 

If you believe we have made an error in the way I have processed your
information request, it is open to you to request an internal review.  You
can do this by writing to us by post or by email to
[1][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]. You will need to specify what the
nature of the issue is and we can consider the matter further. Beyond
that, it is open to you to complain to the Information Commissioner’s
Office ([2]www.ico.org.uk).

 

Yours sincerely

 

Freedom of Information/Data Protection Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

W: [3]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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5. http://www.twitter.com/PHSOmbudsman
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Dear InformationRights,

Thank you for your response.

I would like clarification regarding your answer to my question about the country of residence and ethnic origin of the claimants who brought the litigation against the PHSO. You replied "With regards to Question 3, this information is not held."

Could you clarify how the PHSO can agree to an out-of-court settlement with an individual, but not know the country of residence of the individual who litigated against them. Any documentation regarding litigation will be accompanied by the litigator's name (which I am not requesting), address (which I am not requesting), and country in which the litigator resides (e.g. England) - I have only requested the country that the litigator lives in; surely the PHSO must know that?

I would be grateful for a response regarding only the country of residence of the three people that the PHSO agreed an out-of-court settlement with.

Yours sincerely,

cathy dunne

Informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Dear Ms Dunne

Thank you for your email clarifying our response to Question 3 of your request.

We are looking into this matter for you and will respond as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information/Data Protection Team
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
W: www.ombudsman.org.uk

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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Dear Ms Dunne

I have looked into this again for you and can confirm the information you request at Question 3, including the country of residence for the individuals, is not held by PHSO.

A litigator may be represented by a solicitor, or have a contact address that is not the same as their country of residence.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information/Data Protection Team
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
W: www.ombudsman.org.uk

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