Correspondence alleging cover up or collusion by PHSO staff.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman did not have the information requested.

phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

According to Sir Alex Allen's recent investigation report into PHSO the following statement was made by the Ombudsman;

"She explained to me that at the time the letter from Mrs Marks had been received, PHSO had a process for dealing with correspondence alleging cover-up or collusion by staff in relation to casework. Given the nature of PHSO's work, such correspondence was received every week. There was a standard procedure for referring this correspondence for fact-checking and advice, and she had learnt to suspend judgement while the allegations were looked into."

Correspondence alleging cover-up or collusion by [phso] staff was received on a weekly basis.

1. Can you tell me how many pieces of correspondence alleging cover-up or collusion by staff were received by PHSO for the month of July 2015, which is the month Mrs Marks letter arrived? This would include letters, emails, on-line submissions.

2. Can you provide the same information for July 2016?

3. Can you provide a copy of the standard procedure for referring such correspondence for fact-checking and advice?

Yours faithfully,

Della Reynolds

phsothefacts Pressure Group

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


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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Reynolds

 

Your information request (FDN-271308)

 

I am writing in response to your email of 26 September 2016, in which you
asked a number of questions.  I will respond to your questions below.

1.  Can you tell me how many pieces of correspondence alleging cover-up or
collusion by staff were received by PHSO for the month of July 2015, which
is the month Mrs Marks letter arrived?  This would include letters,
emails, on-line submissions.

2. Can you provide the same information for July 2016?

 

Over these two months, we received a total of over 13,700 pieces of
correspondence.  As we do not have a means of extracting the information
you have requested automatically, we would need to review each piece of
correspondence to determine whether it was relevant to your request.  As
such, to comply with these parts of your information request would
significantly exceed the appropriate limit at section 12 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).  For PHSO, this limit is set at 18 hours or
£450.  As we estimate that it would take at least 229 hours to extract
information relevant to your request, regrettably we must refuse these
parts of your request under section 12 FOIA.

3.  Can you provide a copy of the standard procedure for referring such
correspondence for fact-checking and advice? 

 

Please find attached guidance on checking post which is sent to PHSO’s
Executive Office.  All other operational guidance is contained within
PHSO’s Service Model guidance which is available online at the following
link:
[1]www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint/what-happens-to-a-complaint/our-service-model

 

I hope that this information is helpful.  If you are unhappy with the way
we have processed your information request, it is open to you to request
an internal review by writing to: [2][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email].
Beyond that, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office
([3]www.ico.org.uk).

 

Yours sincerely

 

Freedom of Information and Data Protection Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

W: [4]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

Please email the FOI/DP team at: [5][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]

 

 

 

From: phsothefacts Pressure Group
[mailto:[FOI #361300 email]]
Sent: 26 September 2016 19:13
To: InformationRights
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Correspondence alleging cover up
or collusion by PHSO staff.

 

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

According to Sir Alex Allen's recent investigation report into PHSO the
following statement was made by the Ombudsman;

"She explained to me that at the time the letter from Mrs Marks had been
received, PHSO had a process for dealing with correspondence alleging
cover-up or collusion by staff in relation to casework. Given the nature
of PHSO's work, such correspondence was received every week. There was a
standard procedure for referring this correspondence for fact-checking and
advice, and she had learnt to suspend judgement while the allegations were
looked into."

Correspondence alleging cover-up or collusion by [phso] staff was received
on a weekly basis.

1.  Can you tell me how many pieces of correspondence alleging cover-up or
collusion by staff were received by PHSO for the month of July 2015, which
is the month Mrs Marks letter arrived?  This would include letters,
emails, on-line submissions.

2. Can you provide the same information for July 2016?

3.  Can you provide a copy of the standard procedure for referring such
correspondence for fact-checking and advice? 

Yours faithfully,

Della Reynolds

phsothefacts Pressure Group

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D. Speers left an annotation ()

'cost too much' No surprises then!

phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear InformationRights,

No surprise here that you don't keep a record of correspondence which accuses PHSO staff of bias or collusion, or if you do keep a record you are unwilling to share it in the public domain. No way of monitoring whether individual staff are repeatedly mentioned or whether there is a surge or decline in such accusations as you have no record to check against. You like to keep your head in the sand at PHSO, but that puts your arse in the air and we can all see that.

Yours sincerely,

phsothefacts Pressure Group

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


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