Over half of Ombudsman complaints in 2021 related to health matters

The Health Commissioner handled the majority of reports filed to the Office of the Ombudsman in 2021, a report published on Wednesday shows.

The concerns flagged to the health commissioner ranged from sewage leaks to misplaced swab tests and frozen breast milk.

According to the report, the Commissioner for Health handled a total of 170 cases in 2021.

At the time of writing, the Health Ministry has 22 pending cases, while the Commissioner for Health has 19 cases waiting.

2021 had the highest rate of completed Ombudsman cases, according to the report.

More than 85% of the 318 complaints received by the public service from the Ombudsman's Office in 2021 were declared satisfactorily concluded by the Ombudsman or his commissioners until the end of October 2022.

The remaining matters were being handled by the Ombudsman (8.8%), ministries (3.5%), or the Prime Minister (2.2%).

The Ombudsman concluded the investigations in the vast majority of cases (93%), without making a recommendation.

This meant Public Service bodies either acted correctly or addressed the complaint as soon as it was received, and therefore there was no need for the investigation to continue.

The information was revealed in a report released on Wednesday by Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana.

The report monitors and gives an account of each case, with details on what actions were taken.

“All this testifies to the commitment of the Public Service while continuing to modernize its structures and procedures, and maintain the highest level of governance and accounting expected of it,” Sultana said.