News and public statements

Media releases

Our most recent public statements are published below.

View all media statements by the Office of the Health Ombudsman

Public statements

There are times when the Office of the Health Ombudsman (the OHO) needs to warn the public about the serious risk posed by:

• a registered health practitioner or
• a person who does hold not registration but is providing a health service or a support service to a health service (health service provider).

These public statements will only be issued where the OHO is unable to manage this risk using other regulatory tools.

This means the OHO will publish the name of the health service provider on our website to warn the public and let them know what action they should take.

The threshold for issuing a public statement is set at a high level in section 90AA of the Health Ombudsman Act 2013. The decision to issue a public statement may only be made where we form a reasonable belief that the health service provider’s conduct, performance or health poses a serious risk to persons and it is necessary to issue a public statement to protect public health or safety.

Issuing a public statement means the OHO can warn the public while we continue to take steps to assess or investigate a matter that could pose a serious risk to the public.

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