Annual Report 2007-08 - the Parliamentary and Health Service ...

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We have had continuing contact withthe Department of Health, the NationalOffender Management Service, thePrisons and Probation Ombudsman andthe Healthcare Commission to sharelearning about prison complaints. Inparticular, we have provided theDepartment of Health and the NationalOffender Management Service withrelevant background informationto assist them in updating instructionsto Prison Service staff on dealing withcomplaints about healthcare.We have also liaised with the UK BorderAgency about the complaints proceduresapplying to immigration removal centres– some of which are operated by thePrison Service, while others are privatelyrun on behalf of the Agency. This contactwith the Agency has been useful inproducing a redraft of their guidance tostaff, which will correctly reflect the roleof the NHS, the Prisons and ProbationOmbudsman and the Parliamentary andHealth Service Ombudsman in dealingwith complaints about healthcare forpeople in detention or custody.The case of Mr W illustrates how jointinvestigation of a complaint may be thebest way to reach a suitable remedy.Mr W, a prisoner in Swansea Prison,was dissatisfied with the handling of hiscomplaint about his psychiatric careand complained to the ParliamentaryOmbudsman and the Public ServicesOmbudsman for Wales. His complaintwas about events spanning the time whenthe responsibility for commissioningprimary healthcare services at SwanseaPrison transferred from the Prison Serviceto the NHS in April 2006. The remit forinvestigating complaints about theprovision of primary healthcare servicesin prisons before that date falls to theParliamentary Ombudsman, and after thatdate to the Public Services Ombudsmanfor Wales. Using the provisions in theirrespective statutes, both Ombudsmenagreed that Mr W’s complaint was bestanswered by a joint investigation anda single, joint report.23Case StudyDelay in psychiatric assessmentadded to prisoner’s concern anddistressMr W was imprisoned in Swansea Prison in November 2005. Hewas subsequently assessed by the Prison Service GP who referredhim to the Prison Psychiatrist for a psychiatric review whichtook place on 28 November 2005. During this review, the PrisonPsychiatrist recommended that Mr W should be assessed byone of the prison’s visiting forensic psychiatrists. There is noevidence that such a referral took place at the time and in 2006Mr W complained to the Prison Service about the lack ofpsychiatric provision.Dissatisfied with the outcome of his complaints, Mr W complainedto the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Public ServicesOmbudsman for Wales, who agreed to conduct a joint investigation.The Ombudsmen upheld Mr W’s complaint of delay in providinghim with a psychiatric appointment. The recommendation ofthe Prison Psychiatrist in November 2005 was not implementedfor some months. The Ombudsmen’s view was that it was notfor the other healthcare staff at the prison to decide that thepsychiatrist’s recommendation could be overlooked or deferredand that this was a potentially serious shortcoming. In the absenceof any reasonable explanation for the failure to promptlyimplement the recommendation, the Ombudsmen foundmaladministration by Prison Service staff.When Mr W was eventually seen by two separate forensicpsychiatrists in July and August 2006 it was decided that therewas no need to change the arrangements for providing him withpsychiatric oversight. Therefore the maladministration did notresult in Mr W being without appropriate treatment whilst heawaited his forensic assessment. However, it did add to theinjustice that Mr W felt, in terms of his real concern and distressat the time.The Ombudsmen recommended that the Prison Service provideMr W with an apology and an explanation of its actions. They alsorecommended that the prison’s Healthcare Service staff shouldbe reminded of the need to ensure that recommendations madeby clinicians are properly considered and acted upon promptly.54
Parliamentary and health service ombudsman annual report 2007-08The international perspectiveand human rightsWhile PHSO is keen to work effectivelywith other UK Ombudsmen, it is alsoimportant to be aware of the widernetwork of Ombudsmen in othercountries. This is especially true of theEuropean Network of Ombudsmen, ofwhich PHSO is a member. The value ofthese links lies in the fresh perspectivethey offer and in the sharing ofknowledge and best practice.We continue to develop our HumanRights Strategy and Mr U’s case earlierprovides an example of where humanrights concerns were an explicitconsideration during an investigation.The Ombudsman attended the SixthSeminar of the National Ombudsmenof EU Member States and CandidateCountries, in Strasbourg in October 2007,which focused on ‘Rethinking goodadministration in the European Union’.The Ombudsman was invited to givea speech on ‘Remedies, redress andsolutions’ and talked about whatOmbudsmen have to offer in terms ofindividual and public benefit. She tookthe opportunity to launch PHSO’sPrinciples for Remedy on the Europeanstage and also supported a jointstatement to ‘make the European Union(EU) dimension of the work ofOmbudsmen better known and to clarifythe service they provide to people whocomplain about matters within the scopeof EU law’.Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.It was also in recognition of the needto bring human rights ‘out of the courtroom’ and into the administrativemainstream. The Ombudsman metMr Hammarberg on his visit to Londonin February 2008, when he visited PHSO’soffice in Millbank and discussed, amongother matters, our Human Rights Strategy.In March 2008 the Ombudsman metDr Nicola Brewer, Chief Executive ofthe new Equality and Human RightsCommission, to discuss matters of jointconcern, including the co-operationsought by the Council of Europe.Also in March 2008 the Ombudsmangave the keynote address at a seminarfor regulators and inspectors organisedby the Human Rights Division of theMinistry of Justice. The aim of the seminarwas to assess ways in which human rightsprinciples can be applied in inspectionand regulatory frameworks to ensure thatpublic services are not only human rightscompliant, but also embrace human rightsunderlying values.The need to uphold human rights wasa significant element of the statement,and was also the theme of the 10 th RoundTable of European Ombudsmen andthe Council of Europe Commissionerfor Human Rights, attended by theOmbudsman in Athens in April 2007.The aim of the Round Table was toseek greater co-operation betweenOmbudsmen, the Council of EuropeCommissioner for Human Rights,Thomas Hammarberg, and nationalhuman rights institutions. The initiativewas a response to the backlog of 90,000cases currently facing the European55
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