The provisions in sections 11 and 12 of the Administrative Procedure Act apply to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate’s handling of complaints under the Patient Safety Act; also the issue of slow processing

The Health and Social Care Inspectorate has thus far deemed complainants in complaint cases under the Patient Safety Act not to have party status, and that the provisions of sections 11 and 12 of the Administrative Procedure Act on measures in the event of delayed processing therefore do not apply to the processing of such cases. However, given, inter alia, that the Patient Safety Act refers to a provision that regulates confidentiality in relation to parties, that the circle of people authorised to make a complaint is limited to the patient or the patient’s family members, and that those persons must be considered to have a close connection to the case, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman takes the view that a complainant does have party status.

The provision in section 11 of the Administrative Procedure Act on the obligation to inform a party who has initiated a case that the decision will be substantially delayed is thus applicable to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate’s processing of complaint cases under the Patient Safety Act. According to the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, the decisions in three complaint cases were significantly delayed and the Health and Social Care Inspectorate should therefore have informed the complainants. However, given the unclear legal situation, the authority is not criticised for not doing so. The Health and Social Care Inspectorate, on the other hand, is criticised for the slow processing of the cases.

The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman also finds that the provisions in sections 12(1) and 12(3) of the Administrative Procedure Act concerning a party’s right to request the authority’s review of whether a case is to be decided apply even if the party may not appeal a refusal decision. This means that this legislation also applies to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate’s processing of complaint cases under the Patient Safety Act.