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The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Service is calling on patients, clinicians and the NHS organisations to provide feedback on its service to help develop its service charter. It
forms the start of a “comprehensive listening exercise” centring on what people can expect from the ombudsman service during investigations, with an emphasis on better communication. The
ombudsman, Dame Julie Mellor, said the review was focused on “listening and learning” from people’s experience of its service to help create a “modern and responsive service”. The service
charter will comprise a set of promises so “service users, the public and service providers know what they can expect from us”, the ombudsman said. The ombudsman service is the final step
for individuals who want to complain about being treated unfairly or receiving poor quality service from the NHS in England. It currently investigates 4,000 cases a year and upholds around
42%. The engagement exercise will take place between January and March 2015. A special website has been set up to capture views and opinions through an online survey. A draft service
charter will be consulted on in the spring and finalised in the autumn. A spokesman said: “We’re really keen for nurses, particularly any of them involved in complaint handling at all, to
get involved in shaping our service charter.”