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Your search has returned 589 resultsFriday 9 August
Our office will be closed to the public on Friday 9 August. Our phone lines and online complaint form will be operational as normal.
We will be open again between the hours of 10.00am and noon on Monday 12 August.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The care and treatment of a patient in Causeway Hospital
The Northern Trust failed to provide a patient with a nutritional care plan during his time in hospital. We also found that it should have contacted his family to discuss arrangements for a DNACPR.
Bank Holiday Monday
We will be closed to the public on Monday 26 August. If you wish to make a complaint about a provider of a public service you can still do so via our online complaint form.
Our office will be open again on Tuesday 27 August, between the hours of 10.00am and 12 noon.
Improving healthcare through better patient engagement
Shared decision making in a healthcare setting is about involving patients and their families in decisions about their clinical care.
Not only does this foster a more compassionate, effective healthcare service, it is vital for patient safety. By listening to and working with patients, a service is more likely to understand and meet their needs, and be responsive when safety problems are raised.
We often receive complaints from patients and their families that they should have had more involvement in their care. Click on the headings to read summaries of some of our investigations into these complaints:
Patient Partnership Week - Contributing to Better, Safer Care
Patient Partnership Week (2nd – 6th September) is an initiative created by the Patients Association to improve healthcare through better patient engagement.
There is a focus during the week on shared decision making in healthcare. Shared decision means involving patients and their families in decisions about their clinical care.
Not only do health professional codes of conduct state that patients should be told of any risks with recommended treatment, it is also a legal requirement.
Shared decision making enhances both quality of care and fosters more compassionate, effective healthcare. It is also vital for patient safety, because by listening to and working with patients a service is more likely to understand and meet their needs and be responsive when safety problems arise.
At the Public Services Ombudsman for Northern Ireland we receive complaints from patients (predominantly in a hospital setting) that they would have liked greater involvement in their care. While our investigations may find that health care staff treated patients appropriately, we also find occasions in which staff have not involved and listened to patients and their families.
You can read more about these cases here.
Complaint about Trust’s delay in ADHD assessment
The Belfast Trust told a woman it would not assess her son for ADHD until he was six years old.
We found the Trust should have explained its reasons for not doing so more clearly, but acknowledged its timescale was a symptom of the wider demands currently placed on the health service.
GP surgery missed signs of man’s stroke
A patient was prescribed diazepam after he complained to his GP about feeling unwell.
We asked the surgery to apologise after he was later found to have suffered five strokes in the space of a week.
Care home was inadequately prepared for arrival of resident
We found that a pre-admission assessment for a care home resident did not accurately record her mobility, meaning that the home was ill-prepared for her arrival.
Complaint about decision not to place patient on waiting list for hip surgery
The Southern Trust should have carried out further tests on a patient to see if she was suitable for hip surgery.
Investigation of a complaint against the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust (Prison Healthcare)
An Ombudsman investigation into a complaint that the Prison Healthcare team did not give a patient all of her medication during her stay at Hydebank Wood prison found 'no failures' in the patient's care and treatment.