The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has apologized to a patient who was forced to arrange her own care package after being discharged from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Our newly published Case Digest provides summaries of a number of recent complaints received by the Office.  It reflects the varied nature of the cases we deal with and the range of outcomes which can follow either an initial assessment or a full investigation. We hope you find it of interest.

Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman Marie Anderson and Irish Ombudsman Peter Tyndall have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide for ongoing co-operation on complaints about North-South Implementation Bodies. The MoU will ensure that users of the services of these bodies, both north and south of the border, will be able to have complaints investigated efficiently by the appropriate independent Ombudsman.

Councillor Ian Stevenson has been suspended for the remainder of his term in office (until 6 May 2019) following a decision made by the Acting Local Government Commissioner for Standards.

At an Adjudication Hearing held this morning the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards imposed a 6 month suspension on Alderman Ruth Patterson (Belfast City Council).

An investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman has found that Mid & East Antrim Borough Council dealt properly with a planning application for a house extension, despite objections from the applicant’s neighbours.

The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards has found that Alderman Ruth Patterson (Belfast City Council) breached the Local Government Code of Conduct (the Code) following comments she made at a meeting of Belfast City Council on 3 July 2017.

An investigation has concluded that the care plans drawn up for a resident in a nursing home in Armagh were largely adequate, but that the home had underestimated the resident’s risk of a fall and that it was inconsistent in its assessment of his mental state.

An investigation into a man’s complaint has found that the conditions on a hospital ward did not cause his wife to contract pneumonia.

The Ombudsman has found that a planning officer dealing with a man’s application considered the appropriate policies and took a planning consultant’s views into account before making her decision.