NIPSO Individual Decisions
457 published decisions from the NI Public Services Ombudsman (Jul 2000–Mar 2026). The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman investigates complaints about NI government departments, agencies, councils, and public bodies. Source: nipso.org.uk.
457
Total Decisions
192
Investigated
139
Upheld
72%
Upheld (of investigated)
Showing 101 results matching "Belfast Health and Social Care Trust"
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-18462)
Health & Social Care
Other
The Ombudsman has found that Belfast Health and Social Care Trust should have communicated more clearly with a patient’s family before she was discharged from hospital into respite care.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201916522)
Health & Social Care
Other
A check by the Belfast Trust to see whether a nursing home resident was entitled to continuing healthcare was incorrect. We asked it to carry out a new assessment.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201917314)
Health & Social Care
Other
A woman complained about the treatment given to her late mother in the Royal Victoria Hospital. We found the patient’s care was largely appropriate, but asked the Trust to apologise to her daughter for the insufficient pain relief given to her mother over a 2 day period.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201916181)
Health & Social Care
Other
We investigated an incident in which a woman suffered a fractured vertebrae after a fall in hospital. We found that the Belfast Trust failed to prepare a proper falls assessment for the patient, and failed to fully investigate how the fall happened.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201912943)
Health & Social Care
Other
The sister of a man with Downs Syndrome has received an apology from the Belfast Trust following our investigation into his treatment in Belfast City Hospital.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201916814)
Health & Social Care
Other
We found no failing on the part of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust after investigating a woman’s complaint that she was not given the right care in the later stages of her pregnancy.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-trusts-failures-over-adoption-application-caused-couple-distress)
Health & Social Care
Other
We found that the Belfast Trust stopped a couple’s adoption application without clearly telling them why. We asked the Trust to apologise, to let the couple make the application again, and to carry out an audit of previous adoption applications to see if others had been affected in the same way.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-202000029)
Health & Social Care
Other
A woman complained that a nurse asked her inappropriate questions about her sexual health during a procedure to remove a birth control implant. We found that the Belfast Trust took the correct course of action and that the questions it asked were reasonable.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201917352)
Health & Social Care
Other
A patient claimed that she wasn't assessed properly while in the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast and that the Trust tried to discharge her prematurely without any treatment.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-22364)
Health & Social Care
Other
The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has apologised to the family of a man for a number of failures while he was in hospital for lung cancer. However, we welcomed the learning and commitment to service improvement identified by the Trust following our investigation into the complaint.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-22898)
Health & Social Care
Other
We partly upheld a complaint from a woman who was unhappy about her hospital treatment during the later stages of her pregnancy.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201913310)
Health & Social Care
Other
We investigated a woman’s complaint that her father did not receive appropriate care in the Emergency Department of the Mater Hospital, Belfast. We found there were failures in his treatment, but that they did not ultimately lead to a deterioration in his health.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-201915822)
Health & Social Care
Other
The wife of a cancer patient complained about his care in Belfast City Hospital. We found that overall the patient’s pain was appropriately assessed and managed. However, we also concluded that he failed to get radiotherapy when he needed it because of a delay in receiving a biopsy.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-20976)
Housing
Other
We found that a man recovering from a stomach operation was discharged too early from the ICU of Belfast City Hospital. We asked the Trust to apologise, and to review the treatment of a number of other patients who had returned to ICU following a similar operation.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-22704)
Health & Social Care
Other
Our investigation found that the care and treatment of a patient in the Royal Victoria Hospital was reasonable and appropriate. However, we also found that she should have been told what symptoms to look out for in case she needed to return to the Emergency Department or visit her GP.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-21347)
Health & Social Care
Other
Errors by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust meant that a cancer patient’s end of life symptoms were left uncontrolled, and that opportunities for advanced care planning were missed. It also found that her end of life wishes were not taken into account.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-21613)
Health & Social Care
Other
Investigation finds that it took more than 6 months for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to respond to a patient’s complaint.
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service TrustBelfast Health and Social Care TrustSouthern Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-21053, 21181, 21182)
Health & Social Care
Other
The Chief Executives of three health trusts have apologised after an error in recording a patient’s date of birth led to him being confused with another patient.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-18400)
Health & Social Care
Other
We concluded that the investigation by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust followed all relevant guidelines, but asked it to remind staff of the importance of routinely consulting the GPs of vulnerable adults when carrying out future investigations.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-trust-reimburses-covid-19-patient-loss-belongings)
Health & Social Care
Other
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-20800)
Health & Social Care
Other
We found that the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust acted appropriately when stopping a patient's pain relief injections, but asked it to reflect on the best way to manage the issues around patients having treatments withdrawn that, to them, have resulted in benefits.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-19933)
Health & Social Care
Other
The Belfast Health & Social Care Trust is setting up a process to tell GPs when it has downgraded their referrals after we asked it to apologise to a patient who had complained about a delay in treatment.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-18735)
Health & Social Care
Other
We have asked the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, in consultation with the other Trusts and health and social care organisations, to agree a uniform approach for assessing all future applications for Continuing Healthcare in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-20700)
Health & Social Care
Other
We found that the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust did not provide a patient with a multi-disciplinary review prior to her discharge from the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Northern Health and Social Care TrustBelfast Health and Social Care Trust (NIPSO-17834,21521)
Health & Social Care
Other
We recommended that the Northern Health Trust apologise to a complainant after our investigation found failings in the care and treatment of her baby son and its handling of a Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) investigation.
Upheld
139
NIPSO found fault with the organisation complained about.
Not Upheld
53
Complaint investigated but no fault found.
Closed / Other
265
Closed after initial enquiries, resolved early, or withdrawn.
Most complained-about:
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (96), Northern Health and Social Care Trust (48), Western Health and Social Care Trust (44), South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (41), GP (30).
Investigated Decisions Over Time
Excludes 265 closed after initial enquiries. Quarterly, by outcome.
Decisions by Sector
Sectors by Upheld Rate
Which sectors have the highest upheld rate?
| Sector | Decisions | Upheld | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health & Social Care | 336 | 112 | 33% |
| Central Government | 33 | 6 | 18% |
| Local Government | 31 | 9 | 29% |
| Education | 28 | 5 | 18% |
| Housing | 21 | 7 | 33% |
| Health | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Organisation Accountability
Top 20 organisations by upheld rate (minimum 5 investigated decisions). Based on 192 investigated decisions (excludes 265 closed after initial enquiries). Benchmark: 72% average across all investigated decisions. Sparklines show annual decision volumes 2000–2026.
| # | Organisation | Trend | Investigated | Upheld | Not Upheld | Upheld Rate | vs avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Ireland Housing Executive | 7 | 6 | 1 | 86% | +14pp | |
| 2 | Northern Health and Social Care Trust | 30 | 24 | 6 | 80% | +8pp | |
| 3 | Western Health and Social Care Trust | 26 | 20 | 6 | 77% | +5pp | |
| 4 | Southern Health and Social Care Trust | 13 | 10 | 3 | 77% | +5pp | |
| 5 | Belfast Health and Social Care Trust | 44 | 31 | 13 | 70% | -2pp | |
| 6 | South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust | 14 | 9 | 5 | 64% | -8pp | |
| 7 | GP | 23 | 13 | 10 | 57% | -15pp | |
| All-organisation benchmark | 72% | — | |||||