Off the Record follow-up report published
The Ombudsman has published a follow-up to the 2020 report, Off the Record, which was an investigation into how the Ministry of Health recorded and reported the deaths of intellectually disabled people receiving full-time residential support.
That investigation identified several issues with how the Ministry collected, stored, used and reported information. We made 10 recommendations for improvement to the Ministry of Health to address our concerns. Those recommendations were accepted.
The follow-up report describes the transfer of oversight responsibilities from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Social Development, and progress made on meeting recommendations by both ministries. It shows that most recommendations have been met, and there have been improvements in the collection, use, and reporting of information about the deaths of people with intellectual disabilities receiving residential support, and progress on associated record keeping.
Two recommendations are still in progress.