Ombudsman Arlene Brock has met health chiefs to discuss her recommendations following allegations of racism at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

In a statement, Ms Brock referred to the "depth and urgency of the matters" in her probe into three complaints, thought to be from doctors, alleging racism involving medical professionals at the hospital.

She has now completed her report, but is not able to submit it to the House of Assembly until the next Parliamentary session opens on November 2.

Referring to Parliament's summer break, she said in her statement: "In view of this delay, and given the depth and urgency of the matters canvassed in the report, the Ombudsman met during the summer with the Minister of Health (Michael Scott), chairman of Bermuda Hospitals Board (Herman Tucker), Permanent Secretary of Health (Warren Jones) and Chief Executive Officer of BHB (David Hill) to advise them of the salient themes and recommendations."

Ms Brock also made a presentation to BHB members and the hospital's management team.

Earlier this year, Ms Brock released an update on her progress, revealing that relationships among medics at KEMH were widely perceived as "rife with discrimination".

She said that findings from her preliminary inquiries into the claims — lodged between January and June last year — led her to believe a full-scale review was needed.

Her report, said to have cost nearly $300,000, was due to be published at the end of March, but was initially delayed because the interviewing process took longer than expected.

Ms Brock, whose job is independent from Government, was supported in her investigation by a team of experts from the UK, US, Canada and Barbados.

They met with senior figures at the hospital, carried out in-depth interviews with more than 100 staff members, more than half of whom were black, and trawled through more than 1,000 pages of documents on the hospital's policies and previous reports.

Government has also been carrying out its own inquiry into the claims, in conjunction with the Ombudsman.

News of the allegations broke in March last year when the Mid-Ocean News revealed that two medics had written to the health authorities claiming doctors were treated differently according to their skin colour.

Former Bermuda Medical Association president Cindy Morris later said she had been the victim of institutional racism while at the hospital.

BHB and Mr. Scott declined to comment until the report is tabled in November.