Am 23. Juni 2026 hat der Bürgerbeauftragte der Bayerischen Staatsregierung, Herr Wolfgang Fackler, MdL, an der gemeinsamen Johannisfeier von Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe und Malteser Hilfsdienst in der Residenz München teilgenommen. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wurde ihm der Johanniter Leitfaden „Für alle Fälle – Was Sie für den Katastrophenfall zu Hause haben sollten“ durch Dr. Johannes Freiherr von Erffa, Mitglied des Landesvorstandes der Johanniter Bayern, übergeben. Ein Hinweis an die Resilienz und Widerstandskraft aller Bürgerinnen und Bürger sich für einen möglichen Krisenfall zu wappnen, denn schließlich kann es immer auch zu Stromausfällen oder Naturkatastrophen kommen.

À l'occasion de la Journée mondiale des lanceurs d'alerte, Nicolas Lagasse, Médiateur de la Wallonie et de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, rappelle l'importance de protéger celles et ceux qui signalent des atteintes à l'intérêt général et qui servent ce faisant l'État de droit, l'intégrité publique et la transparence des institutions.

En Wallonie et en Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, le Médiateur exerce comme canal externe pour les lanceurs d'alerte. Il peut ainsi recevoir les signalements émanant entre autres des membres des cabinets ministériels, des agents du Service public de Wallonie, du Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, ainsi que des organismes d'intérêt public régionaux et communautaires, en veillant à les protéger, le cas échéant, contre toutes formes de menaces ou de représailles.

En sa qualité de Président de l'Association des Ombudsmans et Médiateurs de la Francophonie (AOMF), Nicolas Lagasse coorganise avec l'Association internationale des Procureurs et Poursuivants francophones (AIPPF) un séminaire international à Dakar les 21 et 22 octobre 2026, consacré aux dispositifs de signalement et de protection des lanceurs d'alerte au sein de l'espace francophone, avec la participation de l'Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) et de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

Fort des enseignements tirés des travaux menés à Tirana en 2025, médiateurs, procureurs, parlementaires et experts y examineront les conditions nécessaires à la mise en place de cadres juridiques efficaces, équilibrés et protecteurs. Les échanges porteront notamment sur les procédures de signalement, la protection contre les représailles, l'articulation entre autorités administratives et judiciaires, ainsi que sur les outils législatifs susceptibles d'accompagner les États francophones dans le développement ou le renforcement de leurs dispositifs.

Ces travaux devraient aboutir à l'adoption d'une Déclaration de Dakar et à l'élaboration d'une boîte à outils destinée aux parlements et gouvernements de la Francophonie, afin de promouvoir des mécanismes de signalement et de protection toujours plus efficaces au bénéfice de la collectivité.

Donna Ockenden has published her review into Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust.

Commenting on the report, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Paula Sussex said:

“This report adds to an overwhelming body of evidence that maternity services are failing women and families in ways that are repeated and preventable.
 

“For years, reviews have highlighted the same issues - failures in communication, not listening, delays in diagnosis, and poor postnatal care. Yet too often these warnings and any lessons have not translated into lasting improvement, resulting in repeated harm.
 

“While many NHS staff work tirelessly to provide excellent care, every woman and baby deserves safe, compassionate care, every time. It is vital now that we focus on fixing the service. NHS leaders must ensure these findings lead to real, sustained action across all Trusts.
 

“Listening to women and families is one of the most effective ways to prevent harm and improve care. We owe it to those affected not just to recognise these failures, but to ensure they lead to meaningful and lasting change.”

A new report by the Norwegian NPM reveals repeated and serious shortcomings in the healthcare provided to prisoners in Norwegian prisons.

The report presents the Parliamentary Ombud’s findings from 15 prison monitoring visits and investigations conducted between 2023 and 2025.

A higher proportion of prisoners have serious health problems than the general population, and isolation in itself poses a risk of harm to health.

“This places additional demands on prison healthcare services, and we see a clear risk that prisoners are not receiving the healthcare they are entitled,” says Parliamentary Ombud Hanne Harlem.

Read the full report: Healthcare services for prisoners 2026

Inadequate follow-up of suicide risk

In more than half of the prisons examined, the healthcare units did not carry out systematic suicide risk assessments.

“This is critical because the risk of suicide is elevated among prisoners, partly due to poor mental health and substance misuse,” says Harlem.

Failure to provide prisoners with healthcare may have serious consequences and, in the worst cases, lead to serious illness and death. In 2024, Norway was found in violation by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) following the suicide of a prisoner. The prisoner had received only limited supervision and treatment.

The Parliamentary Ombud identified several cases of inadequate follow-up of prisoners at risk of suicide or prisoners with extensive health and care needs.

Prisoners with care needs did not receive required assistance

One example concerned a prisoner who required round-the-clock care but received no assistance outside the healthcare unit’s opening hours. The prisoner needed help with eating, drinking, changing incontinence pads, getting dressed, showering and using the toilet, and had been left lying in their own faeces for several hours.

“The shortcomings identified in the report are largely linked to insufficient knowledge of prisoners’ health problems, staffing, and inadequate cooperation between the Norwegian Correctional Service and the healthcare services,” says Harlem.

At two prisons, the Parliamentary Ombud found that pepper spray had been used on prisoners held in security cells on several occasions without follow-up assessment by healthcare personnel, or only after a considerable delay. At one prison, it also emerged that a prisoner who had been sprayed with pepper spray had remained handcuffed while in the security cell. These findings underline the importance of healthcare personnel attending prisoners in security cells without delay.

Harmful solation

Isolation in a security cell is in itself highly distressing. In almost all of the prisons, there were examples of prisoners held in isolation who did not receive daily visits from healthcare personnel.