The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state.
The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, most of its work was transferred to the newly established Scottish Executive, with a small residue of functions retained by the Scotland Office.
Parliamentary Ombudsman is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In each case, the terms refer both to the office of the parliamentary ombudsman and to an individual ombudsman.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) comprises the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) and the Health Service Commissioner for England (HSC). The Ombudsman is responsible for considering complaints by the public that UK Government departments, public authorities and the National Health Service in England have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service.
A district health authority was an administrative territorial entity of the National Health Service in England and Wales introduced by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973.
Sir Alan Samuel Marre was a British Civil Servant, serving most notably as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and as the first Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales.
The Health and Social Care Select Committee is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and its associated agencies and public bodies. The Clerks of the Committee are Previn Desai and Joanna Dodd.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the organisation that handles complaints about public services in Scotland. The Ombudsman service is independent of government and with a duty to act impartially.
Sir Cecil Montacute "Spike" Clothier KCB QC was a lawyer who served as a Judge of Appeal on the Isle of Man, and then as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales. He was later the first Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority.
The Standards Commission for Scotland is an independent body that has the purpose of advancing high ethical standards in public life. Its main tool is the promotion and enforcement of Codes of Conduct for councillors and those appointed to devolved public bodies.
Ann Abraham is a public servant who was the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England between 2002 and 2011.
An ombudsman, ombud, ombuds, bud, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament.
Sir Idwal Vaughan Pugh KCB was a civil servant who was Permanent Secretary at the Welsh Office and distinguished himself as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales.
Sir Anthony Richard Barrowclough was a lawyer who served as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales.
Sir William Kennedy Reid KCB is a retired civil servant who was Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales between 1990 and 1996.
Sir Michael Sydney Buckley is an English retired civil servant who was Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales between 1997 and 2002.
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of children and young people, either in society at large, or in specific categories such as children in contact with the care system. The agencies usually have a substantial degree of independence from the executive, the term is often used differently from the original meaning of ombudsman, it is often an umbrella term, often used as a translation convention or national human rights institutions, dealing with individual complaints, intervening with other public authorities, conducting research, and – where their mandate permits them to engage in advocacy – generally promoting children's rights in public policy, law and practice. The first children's commissioner was established in Norway in 1981. The creation of such institutions has been promoted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and, from 1990 onwards, by the Council of Europe.
The Ombudsman is an officer of the New Zealand Parliament to independently look into complaints. The core jurisdiction of the office is cases of maladministration, but it has been progressively expanded over the years to cover complaints under the Official Information Act 1982 and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, whistleblower complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2000, and it is one of New Zealand's national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
