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The Ombudsman has found that a Council provided a planning applicant with misleading and inaccurate information about his application, and has made a series of recommendations for remedy.  

Download a copy of our first Quarterly Bulletin to find out the latest news from the Office.

The Ombudsman has made a number of recommendations to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive following an investigation of a complaint about the handling of improvement works to a tenant’s residence.

A local Council has been asked by the Ombudsman to apologise to a complainant after an investigation found they failed to follow their own Financial Regulations during a process to appoint a company for a public event.

An investigation has revealed that a nursing home failed to fully record its observations of a resident’s head injury following a fall, and did not call an ambulance to take him to hospital until almost eight hours after the incident.  The report can be viewed here.

An investigation by the Ombudsman has found that the Southern Health and Social Care Trust provided appropriate care and treatment to a patient prior to her death from a serious heart condition in 2014.

The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman has issued a finding of maladministration against the former Department of Environment for its failure to monitor the numbers of late flights into and out of George Best Belfast City Airport.

Ombudsman Margaret Kelly has called for patients to be given a central role in shaping safety protocols within Northern Ireland's health service.

Speaking yesterday (20 March) at a conference on patient safety, Ms Kelly asked the Department of Health to take the lead in creating a comprehensive framework that empowers patients and fosters a culture of safety and accountability.

With a keynote address from Sir Robert Francis KC (Chair of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust inquiries, 2010 and 2013), the conference brought together a range of voices and expertise to explore potential strategies and approaches to improving patient safety and public trust in our health and social care system.

Ms Kelly stated:

‘Complaints, patient feedback, and raising concerns have proven to be a reliable indicator of safety issues.  Patients must be central to any solutions to improve patient safety. Our investigation work highlights a culture that is sometimes defensive rather than open with patients, and which does not always use complaints as an opportunity to learn and prevent future harm. We hope this conference will mark a step towards ensuring that patient perspectives are not only heard but actively incorporated into the fabric of healthcare policies and practices.

A Patient Safety Strategy setting out how our health system is prioritising safety and involving patients in the process would provide reassurance and help build public trust in a health system that is committed to being patient centred.’

A report from the conference will be published in the near future.

Public bodies should be transparent.  They should record the criteria for decision making and give reasons for their decisions.

This was the message given by Ombudsman Margaret Kelly and Deputy Ombudsman Sean Martin at a recent talk given to an event held in the Public Records Office Northern Ireland.

While people don't generally complain about poor record keeping, explained Ms Kelly, a significant proportion of those cases going to the Ombudsman's Further Investigation stage uncover issues with record keeping.  This often can be an indicator of other underlying problems.

Stressing how good records protect everyone, both urged members of staff working in public bodies to record their rationale when making key decisions.  This not only helps others within the public body but can act as a 'shield' if those decisions are questioned at some point in the future.