Rob Behren's boast about receiving positive feedback
Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,
Rob Behren's has claimed in a letter to PACAC that PHSO caseworkers 'regularly' receive positive feedback from complainants who do not have their complaints upheld. In his own words:
"I should note that our caseworkers do also regularly receive positive feedback from complainants about their work, even where we have not upheld a complaint."
His letter can be viewed here by following the appropriate link:
https://phsothetruestory.com/2018/01/26/...
1. Please provide a copy of the 10 most recent records of positive feedback for:
a/ complainants who had their complaints upheld; and
b/ complainants who did not have their complaints upheld.
2. In each case specify the date the feedback was received.
Yours faithfully,
J Roberts
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M Boyce left an annotation ()
J Roberts
Very good question, with revealing links.
The letter of January 2018 from Behrens to PACAC has been subject to Order 66 on the PHSO website, sorry page 404 (Star Wars geeks will appreciate the slip)?
J Roberts left an annotation ()
M Boyce,
It is good that WDTK keeps a record of PHSO responses.
Mr Behrens' boast is remarkably similar to Russell Barr's (a former Director of Investigations):
"Every week I receive emails and phone calls from managers here with thank you notes from people who have used our service and felt that difference. This is in cases that we don’t uphold as well as the ones that we do."
M Boyce left an annotation ()
I've got a thank you note for the PHSO: thank you for adding insult to injury to all that have had the misfortune to ask the Ombudsman to put the wrongs of public authorities right.
M Boyce left an annotation ()
The PHSO has posted another useless blog on its website. Mr Behrens has a lovely trip to Liverpool to lark around with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. How wonderful. I've got a good idea for your next blog Mr Behrens: get your own house in order instead of wasting valuable time having romantic chats with old friends.
Dear J Roberts
RE: Your information request: FDN - 275057
I write in response to your email of 11^th February 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:
Rob Behren's has claimed in a letter to PACAC that PHSO caseworkers
'regularly' receive positive feedback from complainants who do not have
their complaints upheld. In his own words:
"I should note that our caseworkers do also regularly receive positive
feedback from complainants about their work, even where we have not upheld
a complaint."
His letter can be viewed here by following the appropriate link:
[1]https://phsothetruestory.com/2018/01/26/...
1. Please provide a copy of the 10 most recent records of positive
feedback for:
a/ complainants who had their complaints upheld; and
b/ complainants who did not have their complaints upheld.
2. In each case specify the date the feedback was received.
Whilst positive feedback is held by the PHSO, it can be received for any
stage of the process and not just in relation to investigations.
Additionally, we do not centrally record whether the positive feedback
received relates to upheld or not upheld complaints. We have therefore
manually gathered this information for the purpose of your request.
Please find attached document detailing the 10 most recent pieces of
positive feedback for complaints which were upheld and complaints which
were not upheld. This also includes the date the feedback was received.
The feedback has been redacted to ensure individuals cannot be identified;
this includes any information which they have included in their feedback
which is personal to their complaint. This information has been withheld
under Section 40(2) of the Act.
I hope that this information is useful. 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 [2][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 ([3]www.ico.org.uk).
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information/Data Protection Team
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
W: [4]www.ombudsman.org.uk
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J Roberts left an annotation ()
The 10 instances of positive feedback received from complainants whose complaints were upheld covered a period of eight months (17/6/17 – 20/2/18) .
The 10 instances of positive feedback received from complainants whose complaints were NOT upheld covered a similar period (27/6/17 – 20/2/18).
Or, on average, about one instance every two weeks for all of the 20 examples of positive feedback.
To put things in perspective:
"I can confirm in the business year 2015/16 we received 1969 requests for review, (to be clear this figure excludes complaints about our service, post review correspondence and longstanding complaints)."
Or, on averge, about 76 complaints every two weeks.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...
In the business year 2016/17 the number of requests for review (decision) increased to 2352. Add to this the figure of 44 (service and decision) to give a total of 2396.
Or, on average, about 92 complaints every two weeks.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()
Always look on the bright side of life - de dum, de dum, de dum, de dum. Could be Rob Behrens new catchphrase?
J Roberts left an annotation ()
There is no doubt that his sole focus on positive feedback does indeed give a very misleading impression.
If, for example, service complaints for 2016/17 (715 + 44) are added to the number of decision complaints for the same year, then the total number of complaints received every two weeks, on average, jumps to 121.
There is also the substantial 'unknown' category amounting to 180 for the same year and some other categories to include.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()
If you are in the business of closing down valid complaints by manipulating the evidence and scoping out key points from the investigation then you would expect a lot of complaints. The trick for Mr Behrens is to spin the sorry tale of woe to make it look more palatable and 'restore public confidence'. I never know how they get satisfaction figures in the 60% range but I guess you just think of a number, half it, cross your fingers and presto!
M Boyce left an annotation ()
PHSOthefacts,
The PHSO yesterday agreed to review my October 2017 decision, under the Customer Experience Team (replaced the CCT?). I'm still waiting to hear from the judge about the parallel judicial review. In the PHSO submissions to the Court they described my case as totally bound to fail. Then why have they now agreed to review, even before the Court has made a decision? It's going to get very messy. It's outrageous that the only way to get the PHSO to listen is to take them to court. Welcome to Britain in 2018.
phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()
Only court action or media attention gets any of these guys to shift. You are quite right that it is outrageous. They may 'take another look' as you say but come back with the same conclusion another year from now - this happens a lot so watch out.
J Roberts left an annotation ()
phsothefacts,
I too have been surprised by the high satisfaction ratings found by the firm paid to conduct surveys on behalf of the PHSO.
What would the true level of complaints be, however, if the PHSO recorded them with the same enthusiasm with which they record positive feedback? Imagine changing the word 'positive' to 'negative' in the following comment by a senior PHSO employee:
'Do you remember the names of the individuals from last night who said that they had a positive experience of PHSO? I am keen to ensure that we keep their details as further down the line PHSO may want to ask them if they would like to be involved in another activity going forward.' (p.65)'
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
M Boyce left an annotation ()
I agree PHSOthefacts. They have already implied as much - 'this does not necessarily mean we will change our conclusions.'
But events around my case have already become more important than my individual case, at least in a wider sense. The PHSO have effectively been denying complainants fair recourse to justice through judicial review for years now: either timing them out, or forcing them prematurely into it - as in my case. This has now become a juggernaut overtaking my scooter. This is very serious stuff. Possibility of having to re-open historic cases because of all this? Let's see.
phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()
M. Boyce can you email me at phso-thefacts@outlook.com as I may have some useful information for you.
J Roberts left an annotation ()
PACAC meeting 14/12/21:
https://committees.parliament.uk/event/6...
Rob Behrens referred to previous PHSO research that revealed that 86 per cent of complainants who had their complaints upheld were happy with PHSO investigations.
J Roberts left an annotation ()
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Oral evidence: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2020-21, HC 721
Tuesday 14 December 2021
https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevi...
J Roberts left an annotation ()
PHSO Trustpilot reviews:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
J Roberts left an annotation ()
First Report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2020–21
Published 20 May 2022 HC 213 Report
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/15...
'31. Better transparency yields better service and allows the Committee and the public to better understand the workings of the PHSO. This is important for the Committee because we receive a significant amount of correspondence from the public, much of it negative in its nature due to complainants having their cases rejected and seeking redress. It is likely that any feedback giving praise or alternative positive views are sent directly to the PHSO, or posted in different form, rather than being provided directly to the Committee. It is difficult for us to have a holistic view across all types of cases and case outputs. The result of having these extra variables will be to make it easier to identify where there may be systemic issues or indicative of wider problems.'
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J Roberts left an annotation ()
For anyone interested in the PHSO's history of boasting about receiving positive feedback:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...