The creation and early workings of the Health Service "Ombudsman", 1968-1976: historical and archival research looking into the creation, and first remit, of the Health Service Commissioner. (360G-Wellcome-079642_Z_06_Z)

£901

The creation and early workings of the Health Service "Ombudsman", 1968-1976: historical and archival research looking into the creation, and first remit, of the Health Service Commissioner This is an application for travel expenses, further to pursue research into the creation and early history of the National Health Service 'Ombudsman'. This is the body that, since the early 1970s, has provided an avenue of complaint against 'maladministration' in the NHS. The work should clearly reflect on to contemporary practice, for the Ombudsman was to become one of the most ubiquitous new tools of government in the late twentieth century. The project asks why this was so and where the pressure came from for this reform. This being so, it should cast light on the wider mechanics of British government and politics in the post-Second World War era. The applicant has already been pursuing research into the creation of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. It is envisaged that this will lead to the submission of an article to Past in Present in 2007, covering the creation of the original Parliamentary 'Ombudsman'. It is now intended to take the research on a further stage, and build on the primary evidence assembled on the Parliamentary Commissioner. The first 'Ombudsman', Sir Edmund Compton, started work in 1967. The Health Service Commissioner was not created until 1973, when Sir Alan Marre as Compton's successor took on that role. Why was the Health Service initially insulated from the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner? Why did views change about that exclusion? Why did the process take so long? Did different departments have different views? These are the questions this research will seek to answer, utilising primary materials from government, MPs and political parties. Although there are admirable histories of the Ombudsman institution in general available, especially The Ombudsman, The Citizen and Parliament by Gregory and Giddings, this will be the first historical work systematically to utilise the archives and to find out the reasons for the creation of the NHS Ombudsman, as well as the delay in its inception following the creation of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 901
Applicant Surname O'Hara
Approval Committee Medical History and Humanities Funding Committee
Award Date 2006-01-23T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2005/06
Grant Programme: Title Small grant in H&SS
Internal ID 079642/Z/06/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Glen O'Hara
Partnership Value 901
Planned Dates: End Date 2007-02-28T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2006-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region South East