Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1400. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address the difficulty the Office of the Ombudsman has in pursuing certain complaints by ensuring that the office is no longer prevented from pursuing complaints against private nursing homes or the HSE in situations in which the action complained of relates solely to a clinical judgment decision. [28296/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The functions and powers of the Ombudsman are set out under the Ombudsman Act 1980, and responsibility for the Office of the Ombudsman comes under the aegis of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Ombudsman published a report in 2015 entitled "Learning to Get Better - An investigation by the Ombudsman into how public hospitals handle complaints". One of the recommendations in that report was "Consideration should be given on a wider front to amending the statutory complaints process (and the remit of the Ombudsman) to allow for the inclusion of clinical judgement as the subject about which a complaint can be made". Under current legislation the Ombudsman cannot examine complaints which relate to a person acting on behalf of the HSE and which, in his opinion, relate solely to the exercise of clinical judgement in the diagnosis or care or treatment of a patient. However, the Ombudsman can examine the administrative actions of healthcare professionals and administrators taken in the course of clinical work which do not involve clinical judgement.

My Department's National Patient Safety Office is conducting a review of the statutory complaints process and this will include consideration of the recommendations in the Office for the Ombudsman Report of 2015. The review will also examine how the HSE examines complaints in accordance with its obligations under Part 9 of the Health Act 2004. The public consultation phase of this review is now underway and concludes on 22nd June 2017. It is open to the public, patients, users, staff and relevant organisations as an online questionnaire on the Department of Health website.