Tony Gregory
Ceist:143 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Finance if he will extend the role of the Ombudsman to cover complaints made against hospitals. [13814/97]
Written Answers. - Role of Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman Acts, 1980-1984, empower the Ombudsman to investigate complaints in relation to administrative actions which adversely affect persons or bodies corporate, carried out by
Departments and public service organisations under his remit. The remit of the Ombudsman was originally confined to Departments and offices staffed by civil servants. In December 1984, this was extended by Government order to cover, inter alia, administrative actions of health boards and health board hospitals. However, under section 5 (2) of the Ombudsman Act, 1980, the Ombudsman is limited to investigating actions “taken in the performance of administrative functions”. Accordingly, clinical matters remain outside his remit.
A key priority for institutional reform set out inAn Action Programme for the Millennium is the expansion of the remit of the Ombudsman to include legal, medical and other areas. In this context, I am considering how best to address the matter of complaints made against hospitals and other institutions in the health sector. I hope to bring specific proposals to Government in relation to all these matters in the near future.