Details of the two ombudsmen that you can complain to about care services in England.

There are two ombudsmen that you can complain to:

  • the Local Government Ombudsman deals with complaints about local authorities (eg social services)
  • the Health Service Ombudsman deals with complaints about the NHS.

The Local Government Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) is a free, independent organisation that investigates complaints against local authorities by looking into maladministration that has caused injustice. Maladministration is where the correct procedures and considerations in setting up a service, delivering a service or making decisions have not been kept too. This would have resulted in injustice to the person who needed help. 

Examples of maladministration include unreasonable delay, unfairness, failure to follow procedure and poor methods of making decisions.

If you are approaching the LGO, your complaint must be made within 12 months of the incident occurring. In most cases, the LGO will only investigate your complaint after you have followed the complaints procedure for adults or children but not had a satisfactory response. If you have already put in a complaint to your social services department but have waited almost 12 months for a reply, you can contact the LGO on the basis of a delayed response.

The LGO has wide investigative powers and can look at all council documents. After the investigation, they can also make policy recommendations and arrange for compensation to be made to the complainant. If a report is written, it has to be made public by the local authority; however your details remain confidential. 

The LGO can only be used if no other complaints method is being used, eg a judicial review.

The Health Service Ombudsman

The Health Service Ombudsman is very similar to the Local Government Ombudsman, but deals with complaints about the NHS. It investigates complaints about NHS hospitals, GPs, primary care trusts, health authorities, dentists, opticians, pharmacists and any other services provided by the NHS. It cannot look into complaints about private health services.

The Health Service Ombudsman is a free, independent service and is separate from the NHS. The Health Service Ombudsman looks into maladministration such as delays or unsatisfactory responses, but also errors in clinical practices, so they can investigate complaints about treatments, wrong advice, an incorrect diagnosis, etc.

An investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman can lead to better practice in the NHS and also better ways of handling complaints. But like the Local Government Ombudsman, the Health Service Ombudsman can only be involved once a complaint has been through the complaints procedure without a satisfactory response.

Contacting an ombudsman

You can contact an ombudsman by using an application form (ask for a copy from the relevant ombudsmans office). Or you can contact them with the following information:

  • the name and address of the person making the complaint
  • the name and address of the organisation the complaint is being made about
  • details of what the complaint is about, that is, what did the organisation do wrong or fail to do?
  • what personal injustice, financial loss or hardship was suffered
  • what the organisation should do to put the situation right
  • details of how the complaint has been dealt with before you contacted the ombudsman 
  • the date when you first identified the problem you are complaining about.

You should also send copies of any relevant paperwork connected to your complaint.