This Factsheet is about complaints relating to Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). It should be read together with our general information available here. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) inspects and regulates all health care in Wales. HIW reviews and inspects NHS and independent healthcare organisations in Wales to provide assurance that services are safe and of good quality. If you think that HIW has not followed the law, regulations or guidance, the Ombudsman may be able to consider your complaint.
HIW’s main responsibilities include:
The Ombudsman can:
The Ombudsman cannot:
It is not HIW’s role to deal with complaints from patients about the treatment they received from the NHS. This is a matter that can be dealt with under the NHS complaints procedure. HIW may however act on any such information that might indicate a systemic failure of NHS services. Similarly, it is not HIW’s role to deal with complaints from patients about the treatment they received from independent healthcare providers. However, HIW will consider complaints and concerns from patients and professionals that independent providers may have breached relevant regulations.
Where providers of services or persons registered with HIW are not happy with any registration or enforcement action that HIW has undertaken, these complaints should be dealt with through the routes expressly provided for this purpose.
Further information about HIW, including their complaints procedure, can be found on its website: http://www.hiw.org.uk
The Ombudsman is independent and impartial; he cannot order public bodies to do what he recommends – but, in practice, they almost always do.
Examples of cases that the Ombudsman has looked at can be found on our website. Please see www.ombudsman.wales.
If you are unsure whether the Ombudsman would be able to look into your complaint, please contact us.
Also available in Welsh.