Vulnerable patients with mental health conditions are being badly let down by the NHS, causing them and their families needless suffering and distress, according to a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report published today. The Ombudsman has also found that NHS mental healthcare staff can lack the capacity, skills and training they need to do their job effectively, and do not always have the support they need to learn from mistakes.

 

Ontario universities came under the provincial ombudsman’s oversight in 2016. The office has since received more than 500 university-related complaints. Paul Dubé is in the “persuasion game.” Whether it’s overseeing complaints about provincial government ministries, municipalities or universities, Mr. Dubé, Ontario’s ombudsman says his modus operandi remains the same. “My approach as an ombudsman has always been to show all stakeholders what’s in it for them, why they will benefit from these recommendations, that it’s in their interest.”

 

On 20 March 2018 Ombudsman Kräuter welcomed Mr Mahito Shindo, Assistant Professor at the School of Sciences of Waseda University, Tokyo. In a current research project Mr Shindo examines to what extent Ombudsman institutions can ensure the quality of administrative environmental decision makings. The Austrian Ombudsman Board was pleased to contribute its expertise to this academic work.

On 14 March 2018, a session of the Expert Council on Military Personnel Rights adjunct to the Human Rights Defender (HDR) was held. HRD staff members and NGOs field academia experts participated in the meeting, which was chaired by Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan.

With a view to foster the bilateral relationship and cooperation, Justice Naser Seraj, President of the General Inspection Organization (GIO) of the Islamic Republic of Iran hosted a delegation from the Turkish Ombudsman’s Office and visited his colleague, Mr Ken Sanuki, in Japan.

Desde el pasado viernes las ciudades Las Rosas y Las Parejas cuentan con sede propia de la Defensoría del Pueblo. Estas dos nuevas sedes ascienden a 31 las oficinas que forman parte de la institución además de las sedes centrales de Rosario y Santa Fe. “Queremos llegar a todos los santafesinos para intentar dar respuesta a todos sus reclamos”, señaló Lamberto.

Según el Comité Español de representantes de personas con discapacidad (CERMI) más de 4.000 personas con discapacidad están internas en la actualidad en centros penitenciarios de todo el territorio español. El Defensor del Pueblo está elaborando un estudio sobre internos con discapacidad en centros penitenciarios, para conocer la situación de estas personas.

Too many women everywhere still regularly face discrimination, harassment and violence in their daily lives over 20 years after governments from around the world committed to achieving gender equality and empowering women. On International Women’s Day, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) calls for renewed focus to help honour those far ranging commitments made in Beijing 1995 at the UN’s World Conference on Women.