NHS Trust, Health Ombudsman, Subject Access Request

[Swingletree]

Can you guys on here give me some suggestions on what to do next?

I brought a complaint to NHS foundation Trust hospital and during the investigation time I put in a Subject Access Request. I received a bundle of papers.

When the complaint was not upheld by the Trust I took the complaint to the Health Ombudsman (PHSO). They produced a draft report and within it allowed me copies of the evidence that they relied on to get to their decision.

The bundle of papers received from the Trust did not contain the same paperwork that had been used as evidence i.e. The Trust, without good reason, withheld documentation which was in the PHSO bundle and if there was a reason for non-inclusion that also was not offered.

I complained to the Trust, who promptly told me that I had received all the papers and this went on several times. I threatened going to the ICO. In the end the Trust decided to scan onto a CD all documents that had been passed to the PHSO and send the CD to me.

The papers that I had received from both the Trust & PHSO now matched. I was reasonably happy with the situation.

As there were a vast number of errors within the draft report from the PHSO, I complained further and the PHSO took further advice from their own advisers. I obtained another report. Quoted within one of the advisers reports is reference to further TRUST documentation that was not in the first bundle of papers, not on the CD and not in the bundle from the PHSO.

I have been told the document/s is/are in existent.

Now I have a situation when the Trust is blaming the PHSO and the PHSO is going round and round in circles, with me still missing paperwork.
Is there any way I can be sure of knowing that I really do have ALL the paperwork from the Trust who were the instigators of all the documentation in the first place.

Thanks for reading

[enquirer]

Re: NHS Trust, Health Ombudsman, Subject Access Request

This is an extraordinary merry-go-round.

It's clear that the Trust has failed to supply all the requested documentation, although whether this is due to dishonesty or incompetence is not clear. Frankly, both are equally likely.

File another request to the Trust, pointing out that the Ombudsman's documentation indicates clearly that they have still failed to supply you with all the documentation. Observe that you 'trust that it will not be necessary to refer their lackadaisical peformance in this matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner'.

Write your letter on the assumption that an investigator from ICO (to whom you may well have to complain), who knows nothing about this matter, will be reading it later.