Due to the current public health emergency it is unavoidable and understandable that it is causing considerable disruption to the delivery of public services, as well to the work of our own Office. With this in mind, we would ask for your patience and cooperation and in particular:

A)  Please think about whether you really need to make complaints about healthcare and social support services, both of which are under huge strain at the moment.

B)   In terms of the work of the Office of the Ombudsman, our staff will continue to work during this time.  However, we rely on interaction with the service providers to carry out our work, and there may be significant delays in getting responses from service providers, particularly those in healthcare.  Additionally, some of our own staff may be redeployed to vital front line services.  We apologise for the delays which will result.