What is PHSO and why is it important?  

PHSO is the abbreviation for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

PHSO is the last stage of the complaint process. They investigate complaints about public services and about the NHS. They are completely independent from the government.

If you complain to PHSO and they find failings in the way AtW handled your case, they can ask AtW to put that right.

One of PHSO’s aims is to ‘drive improvements in public services’. This means that they think about how to make services better for everybody, and can ask the government department to make changes to things that do not work well. But they can only do this based on the complaints that they see. If you do not complain to PHSO, they will not know about the problems with AtW.

PHSO is an accessible service. You can make your complaint in BSL and they will communicate with you in BSL if you need them to. They can also write in Deaf-friendly English. When you contact PHSO you must let them know how to communicate with you. 

Click here for information in BSL and English about how to contact the PHSO through an interpreter on screen (SignVideo)

Click here to see more about who the PHSO are and what they do (BSL with English subtitles)

The PHSO also investigate health complaints about the NHS: GPs, hospitals, dentists, opticians, etc.  You can contact them to ask about this.
 
And click here to see some tips about how to complain to the NHS (BSL with English subtitles)

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What is PHSO and why is it important?  BSL

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Deaf AtW users, interpreters owed money, complain to the PHSO !!!

Several Deaf people and interpreters I'm in contact with have had their complaints accepted for investigation by the PHSO.  Complaining is really easy.  Use the contact me box below, and I'll send you up to date information about how to complain.

Interpreters - if you are owed money and are waiting for something to happen, stop it !!!  Complain now.  Contact me and I'll explain the options open to you.

The PHSO is accessible, there is information about them in BSL on their website, and you can click on the Sign Video link to talk to them.  However I suggest if you haven't complained that you contact me first, as I can share the learning from the other people who have complained. 

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