What to do if you think our
decision about your complaint
is wrong
We receive thousands of complaints about the NHS in England, UK government departments
and other public organisations every year. We consider each complaint very carefully.
However, we realise that not everyone will be happy with the decision we make about their
complaint. Occasionally, we get something wrong or new information becomes available.
If you think we have got something wrong you can ask us to review our decision under our
internal complaints procedure, using this form. This form is also available from our website.
Important information to know before asking for a review
It is important to know that we will not be able to review our decision about your complaint
just because you disagree. Please tell us what you think we got wrong and why. For us to be
able to review our decision, you must send your request for a review to us within three
months of the date of the decision. You must also show us that:
(1)
we made our decision based on evidence that contained facts that were not accurate
and which could change our decision;
(2)
you have new and relevant information that was not previously available and which
might change our decision; or
(3)
we overlooked or misunderstood parts of your complaint or did not take account of
relevant information, which could change our decision.
A review does not mean we will look at your original complaint again. Instead it means we
will look to see if we took account of all the relevant evidence and made a fair decision
based on this.
If you would like to see the evidence we based our decision on, please ask the caseworker
who dealt with your case. We would usually expect you to do this before you ask for a
review.
Before filling in this form, please read the information below
If you need any help understanding this form, or need it in a different format (for example
large print), please call our helpline on 0300 061 4076. If you are filling in the form by hand,
please use BLOCK CAPITALS if you are able to. We are able to discuss the details of your
original complaint.
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Please note that there is no need to send a repeat of your original complaint or documents
we have already seen, as we will not look at these again. Please only write in the boxes that
apply to your request for a review. If you are sending any supporting documents to us,
please explain what they relate to or mean. Without an explanation, we might not be able
to consider them.
If you are making a complaint about the way we dealt with you, rather than about our
decision on your complaint, please use our ‘How to complain about the way we dealt
with you’ form. For a copy, please visit our website or call our helpline.
Why you want us to review our decision about your complaint
Please only fill in the sections which are relevant to your request.
(1) We made our decision based on evidence that you can show contained facts
that were not accurate.
1.1 Please provide clear and specific details below of all the points in the decision letter
you received about your complaint that you feel contain facts that were not accurate.
Please provide, where possible, copies of information to support this, which we have not
already seen.
1.2 Please explain why the information you gave in section 1.1 would change our decision.
(2) You have new and relevant information that was not previously available
and which you can show might change our decision.
2.1 Please explain below clearly and specifically why this new information is relevant. You
should attach copies of this evidence to this form.
2.2 Please explain why the new information you gave in section 2.1 would change our
decision.
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(3) We overlooked or misunderstood parts of your complaint or did not take
account of relevant information.
3.1 Please tell us below what evidence we did not take into account when we
made our decision about your complaint. Please clearly and specifically link
this evidence to the decision letter you received.
3.2 Please clearly and specifically explain why you think the evidence would change our
decision.
Your details
Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms
Name
Address and postcode
Daytime phone number
Email address
Ombudsman complaint reference number. (You can find this in the top right-hand corner in
any of our letters to you about your original complaint.)
Date
Signed
Please tick this box if you would like us to send a copy of our response to a
representative or advocate.
Representative or advocate contact details
Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms
Name
Address and postcode
Daytime phone number
Email address
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We will keep in touch with you whichever way works best for you. However, with email
there is always a small risk of messages being intercepted. If want us to contact you by
email, please let us know by ticking one of the boxes below. As a precaution, we will also
‘password protect’ any documents we send you.
I am happy for you to contact me by email
I do not want you to contact me by email
If you have any special requirements for the way we communicate with you, please let us
know.
What happens next?
(1) Please send us your filled-in form and any supporting documents. Please make sure you
explain clearly how any supporting documents you are sending relate to your request for
a review.
You can send this form by email:
Complaintsaboutphso@ombudsman.org.uk
Or by post to:
The Review Team
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
(2) If we decide to review our decision about your complaint, we will let you know.
Someone who was not involved in your original complaint will look at your concerns. We
aim to provide a response within four months, but we will usually be able to get back to
you a lot sooner than this. If we decide not to review our decision, we will let you know
and tell you why.
(3) If we agree our decision about your complaint was wrong, we will apologise and tell you
what we will do to fix things.
(4) Once you have received our response, that is the end of our internal complaints
procedure. If you disagree with our response you can challenge it through the courts.
We are unable to give you advice about this and you might need to get your own
independent or legal advice on how to do this.
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Need more information?
For more information, please get in touch.
Email: Complaintsaboutphso@ombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 061 4076
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Fax: 0300 061 4000
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