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The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman was set up by Parliament to provide an independent complaint handling service for complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS in England and the UK government departments. It is not part of government or the NHS in England. It is neither a regulator nor a consumer champion.

If a complaint has been made under the NHS complaints procedure and the person is not satisfied with how it was dealt with at the first stage which is known as local resolution, they have a right to request an independent review by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. However, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman may not be able to look at the complaint if:

 legal action is already being taken

 the person is planning to take legal action

 there is a course of legal action open to the person that is reasonable or was reasonable to be followed

A request for an independent review must be made within 12 months of the incident occurring or when the person first became aware that something had gone wrong.

Many cases that are considered by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can take some time, depending on the circumstances and complexity of the problem. If the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman upholds the complaint, it can request the organisation to say sorry and provide an explanation of what went wrong. It may also call for changes to prevent the same incident happening again or request a review of procedures. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can also order financial compensation; this, however, is normally lower than a court could award.