Ombudsman seeks greater scrutiny of hospitals

The Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy, has criticised the Government for failing to introduce legislation, which was promised eight years ago, that would allow his office investigate complaints against public voluntary hospitals.

Speaking yesterday at the publication of his annual report for 2001, Mr Murphy said such legislation had been promised in the 1994 Programme for Government and had been "announced" on two occasions by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Martin Cullen.

Six years ago a Bill giving effect to the proposal had been drafted, Mr Murphy added. "But it's never seen the light of day."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance said the Bill did not go through the last Dáil due to pressure from other legislation.

The Ombudsman said that, in the absence of the legislation, he was prohibited from examining complaints against voluntary hospitals, such as Beaumont or St James's in Dublin, even though they are publicly funded. His remit allows him at present to investigate only complaints against health board hospitals.

For patients of public voluntary hospitals, this meant they had to consider the prospect of costly litigation before the courts if they wished to make a complaint, he said.

He noted that an Oireachtas committee had recently recommended his office extend its remit to the examination of clinical decisions in hospitals. Such a function is carried out by the Ombudsman in Northern Ireland.

However, Mr Murphy said he would like to see statutory complaints systems established in hospitals in the first instance. For the Ombudsman to take on that role at this time would be "too traumatic" for the medical profession and others, he said.

On the issue of a proposed Garda Ombudsman, which is being sought by a number of Opposition parties, Mr Murphy said he was pleased all the political parties accepted the principle of an independent investigator of complaints. He said whether one called that an Ombudsman or something else was not as important as its ability to carry out investigations effectively.

Investigators, he said, should have a range of powers, which among other things should give them access to files and the ability to call people for interview. "As I read it, all parties seem to be committed to that," he said.

In conjunction with the release of yesterday's report, Mr Murphy also published an information leaflet on redress, which contains recommendations for public bodies on how do deal with citizens when mistakes are made.

The guide says a public body should always give a detailed explanation and/or apology when mistakes are made.

Mr Murphy noted that he had encountered a number of cases where apologies took the form of: "We do not accept that we have been at fault but if we have, please accept our apologies." Responses of this nature were unacceptable, he said.

On the issue of compensation, he said there was a need for the Revenue Commissioners to take into account "loss of purchasing power", and not merely income, when recompensing citizens who had been overcharged for tax.

The report showed there was a 19 per cent increase in valid complaints to the Ombudsman last year, with a total of 2,539 received. These contributed to almost 19,000 contacts made to the office last year. This compared to 9,500 in 2000.

Of 2,085 complaints concluded in 2001, 424 (20 per cent) were resolved, 62 (3 per cent) were partially resolved, and 602 (29 per cent) saw some assistance provided to complainants.

• A full copy of the report can be found at www.ombudsman.ie