The Northern Ireland Ombudsman

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The Northern Ireland Ombudsman
Tom Frawley
www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• The Role of the Northern Ireland Ombudsman
• The Northern Ireland Ombudsman ensures that every
  citizen in Northern Ireland is served by a fair
  and efficient public administration that is
  committed to
• accountability
• openness and
• quality of service.

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• The title of Northern Ireland Ombudsman spans
  two offices
• The Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and
• The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints
• The Ombudsman is completely independent of the
  Northern Ireland Assembly, NI Executive,
  government departments and public bodies.

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints
• The Ombudsman deals with complaints from people
  who believe they have suffered injustice as a
  result of maladministration by government
  departments and public bodies in Northern
  Ireland.

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• What is maladministration?
• Used to describe poor administration or the wrong
  application of rules.
• Examples include
• Giving advice which is misleading or inadequate
• Discourtesy and failure to apologise properly for
  errors     
• Mistakes in handling your claims
• Refusing to answer reasonable questions.

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• Who else can the Ombudsman investigate?
• The Ombudsman can also investigate complaints
  about the exercise of clinical judgment by health
  care professionals, such as
• Doctors
• Dentists
• However the Ombudsman cannot obtain compensation
  for individuals.

• Pharmacists
• Optometrists

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• When can the NI Ombudsman investigate?

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk

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• How does the Ombudsman operate?
• All complaints are treated in the strictest
  confidence and services are free of charge
• Although the power of the Ombudsman does not
  extend to enforcing any recommendation, the
  organisation almost always accepts them
• If an organisation fails to provide the remedy
  that is recommended the complainant may seek the
  support of the courts.

www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk www.ni-ombudsman.org.uk