One of you should take the role of the patient. You slipped and fell a few months ago and were taken to the A&E department of your local hospital. Although you complained of a pain in your ankle the doctor who looked at you said that it was not swollen enough to be broken and was probably a sprain. A few days later it had not improved so you went to your GP. He sent you to have an X-ray which showed that you did have a hairline fracture. You wrote to the hospital to complain that they should have found this the first time you went in, and you are not satisfied with their response.

Another of you should play the part of the hospital representative. You apologised to the patient when they wrote to complain and do not see what more you can do to help matters. The doctor who missed the fracture tells you that the department was unusually busy that day and X-rays would have taken hours to complete, leading to unnecessary waiting time for the patient. As it was, although the fracture was missed, no harm was done and the patient would not have been treated differently if it had been found. You have not asked doctors in the A&E department to send all such cases for X-rays as a matter of routine because it is not always necessary and puts pressure on the X-ray department.

The third person can take the role of the Health Service Ombudsman. What information do you need before you can investigate this complaint? What might influence your decision? What papers would you ask to see and who might you interview once you had decided to investigate? Talk to the hospital representative and the patient and decide the best way to sort out this complaint.

visit their site click here www.ombudsman.org.uk

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A second person can take the role of the council representative. You replied to the complainant's letter explaining that the council had recently changed the firm which cleared away rubbish, and that there had been some problems sorting out the route and times for which you apologised. These were now sorted out, however, and you do not see that the complainant has suffered to the extent that you should pay compensation.

The person playing the role of the local government ombudsman should talk to both sides and decide whether to uphold the complaint. What information do you need from the complainant before you decide? If you do investigate, what papers will you want to see and who will you interview? What sort of redress might you recommend if you find in favour of the complainant? How will you justify your position?

visit their site click here www.lgo.org.uk

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The complainant wants to sort out a problem with his insurance company. Imagine you are among the first of your friends to learn to drive and have just bought your first car. You have insured it against theft and 'third party' damage only. One morning a friend who cannot drive leaves his school bag in the back after you offer him a lift. During the day, he asks for the keys so that he can get his bag back. However, he then drives the car away and damages it in an accident, so badly that it cannot be repaired. When you try to claim the insurance money to replace it, the insurance company says that it cannot pay as the car was not stolen. You did not give your friend permission to drive the car and you demand compensation.

The insurance company representative thinks differently. You argue that the crime of 'theft' was not committed because there is no evidence that the friend intended to keep the car or sell it. The policy the complainant paid for did not insure the car against joy-riding, and it specifically excluded loss 'by deception'. You refuse to pay out.

The Financial Ombudsman Service should investigate this complaint. Remember to be impartial and try to gather and weigh all the evidence carefully. Do you think that the insurance company was right to refuse the complainant or would you recommend some sort of remedy? How would you explain your decision to each side?

visit their site click here www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

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Taking the role of the pupil, imagine that you were at a school in Scotland where you sat your Scottish Higher exams. Your university place depended upon you scoring an 'A' and three 'B's - the grades you got in your mock exams. The Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) did not return your results in time for you to confirm your place and you instead accepted a place at your second choice university, which was willing to take you based on the results you achieved in the mocks. When the real results arrive, a month late, you find that you scored two 'A's and two 'B's. You complain to the SQA and are not satisfied with their response, so you go to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

As person playing the part of the SQA representative, you should defend the Authority's actions. You wrote and apologised for the computer error which led to the pupil's late result, explaining that steps had been taken to ensure it would not happen again. You warned the pupil that the results would be delayed a week before they were due, although you did not notify the universities of this. You feel that it is up to the university to decide whether to accept mock exam grades or not. Since the pupil does not want to change university, you do not see what more you can do.

The person in the role of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman should try to resolve this situation. Is the SQA guilty of maladministration, and if so can anything be done to put it right? How can you determine the truth of what the pupil and the SQA are saying?

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