The Consultant - 6. The Office of the Ombudsman – Hand in Hand?

In my opinion, the Office of the Ombudsman appears to be working ‘hand in hand’ with Government to ensure that certain complaints are suppressed in order to keep them from public knowledge. That way there can be no finger-pointing when mistakes are made.

Dr Kenneth Bolger (Irish Medical Council Registration Number: 258617) Consultant Physician and Respiratory Specialist at St Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny.

I submitted my letter of complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman on 15^th December 2023 which contains full details of the handling of my complaint by all those involved at the HSE. I provided the full details within one letter, in order that the Ombudsman cannot at a later date deny that they received the full details regarding this matter – see my post titled “The Consultant - 5. The Office of the Ombudsman”.

In particular, I stated to the Ombudsman;

And;

On submission of my complaint dated 15^th December 2023 to the Ombudsman, I received the following immediate automatic online acknowledgement;

I also received the following automatic email acknowledgement;

Within the hour the same day 15^th December 2023, I received the following standard acknowledgement of receipt of my complaint from the Early Resolution Unit, The Office of the Ombudsman where they issued a Case Number;

It was more than three months before I heard from the Office of the Ombudsman following submission of my complaint dated 15^th December 2023, where on 26^th March 2024 I received the following email and attached letter from Ms Christine Shine, Investigator, where my complaint was accepted;

Ms Christine Shine, Investigator stated the following in her letter (below) to me dated 26^th March 2024;

And;

And;

I responded by email and attached letter to Ms Christine Shine, Investigator the same day, 26^th March 2024 in order to provide answers to her three questions as follows;

I did NOT hear again from Ms Christine Shine, Investigator until almost 9 months later when I receive a ‘DECISION’ letter dated 10^th December 2024. This was a YEAR AFTER I had submitted my complaint dated 15^th December 2023 to the Office of the Ombudsman.

It appears that something happened in late November 2024 where the Ombudsman suddenly during the period of late November 2024 and into early January 2025 made an enormous effort to ‘clear the decks’ of any complaint made by our family as follows;

Why did the Ombudsman behave in that way?

Why did the Ombudsman appear have a desire to ‘clear the decks’ with speed?

Could the Ombudsman have been told to do this and if so by whom?

Extremely suspicious behaviour!

See my post titled; “Broken Trust 006 - The Office of the Ombudsman - Clear the Decks with Speed and Gaslighting!”.

I note that Ombudsman schemes state they have the power to set standards for complaint handling within their sector and it is best practice for them to have the power to start an investigation on their own initiative, rather than wait for a complaint to be made.

However, the Ombudsman’s treatment of the serious complaints raised by my late father’s family is evidence that it may NOT be independent of government as stated.

The response of the Ombudsman to my late father’s family is evidence that it is clearly NOT concerned that the Health Service Executive (HSE) needs to improve its service.

The ‘DECISION’ letter from the Ombudsman arrived in suspicious circumstances on 10^th December 2024, which was a YEAR AFTER I submitted my complaint dated 15^th December 2023 and although ‘Partially Upheld’ it had a shocking twist!

In my opinion, the Office of the Ombudsman appears to be working ‘hand in hand’ with Government to ensure that certain complaints are suppressed in order to keep them from public knowledge. That way there can be no finger-pointing when mistakes are made.