Mit Blick auf die aktuelle Corona-Situation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und die aktuellen Beratungen im Kabinett, forderte der Bürgerbeauftragte Matthias Crone eine umfassende Überarbeitung der Corona-Bestimmungen. Er sagte:

„Nach wie vor gibt es eine ganze Reihe von komplizierten und unübersichtlichen Regelungen. Nur, wenn die Bürger Normen auch verstehen, werden sie die Einschränkungen weiterhin akzeptieren und befolgen. Wenn jedoch die aktuelle Corona-Verordnung 137 Seiten umfasst, braucht es schon ein gewisses Expertenwissen, um eine Antwort auf alltägliche Fragen zu bekommen. Hier rege ich eine Bereinigung und Vereinfachung der Vorschriften an“, so Matthias Crone. Andere Bundesländer kämen mit weniger ausführlichen Regelungen aus.

Erfreut zeigte sich der Bürgerbeauftragte darüber, dass die Schulen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern jüngst mit sogenannten Spucktests ausgestattet wurden:

„Hier gab es einige Anfragen von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit körperlichen, psychischen und gesundheitlichen Einschränkungen, die Probleme mit den bisher angebotenen Tests hatten. Diese empfinden den Spucktest nun als große Erleichterung. Er ist für viele Kinder einfacher zu handhaben als die bisherigen Tests. Ich bin überzeugt, dass einfachere Verfahren und Regelungen in dieser Phase der Pandemie mehr Erfolg und Sicherheit für uns alle bringen“.     

5 October 2021

Commenting on the findings of an investigation into the death of eight-week-old Ben Condon at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundations Trust, Ombudsman Rob Behrens, said:

Our investigation found a catalogue of failings in the Trust’s treatment of Ben Condon, which meant several missed opportunities to give him the best possible chance of recovering from his illness. Mr and Mrs Condon now have to live with the knowledge that Ben’s care was sub-standard and that each failing reduced his chances of recovery. We also found failings in the way the Trust communicated with Mr and Mrs Condon, exacerbating a highly distressing situation over an extended period of time. This is every parent’s worst nightmare and they deserved better from those they trusted with their child.

The injustice of never knowing whether things might have been different is something they will have to live with forever.

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall and his team held a virtual regional ‘visit’ to the Carlow Kilkenny and Wexford area between 26 September and 1 October 2021.

As part of the Office’s outreach programme, the Office usually holds complaint clinics, engages with public representatives and the providers of public services located in a particular county.

Ongoing Covid-19 restrictions meant the Office had to take an innovative approach, by holding virtual meetings and online webinars for the second year in a row. Last year the Office 'visited' Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon and held a similar webinar.

Over the week, the Ombudsman and his team:

• held an information webinar on the work of the Office for staff in the local Citizens Information Centres
• met by video conference with all three County Councils, and Wexford General Hospital to discuss ‘learning from complaints’ and
• engaged with local media, including Ombudsman interviews on local radio stations, highlighting the right to complain.  

On Thursday, the Ombudsman also hosted a webinar: ‘How complaints can improve public services’, which was attended by over 70 local public representatives, officials in local public bodies and other interested groups. At the webinar Ombudsman Peter Tyndall, and Senior Investigators Jennifer Hanrahan and Dave Nutley, outlined the type of complaints the Ombudsman receives from the people of Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford. They discussed how providers of local public services can use complaints to help improve the delivery of public services.

The Office also produced a special Carlow Kilkenny Wexford Casebook containing summaries and statistical analysis of complaints received from the three counties.

In 2020 the Ombudsman received 165 complaints from people in the area.

Representatives of the Ombudsman's Office attended the 27th annual conference “Covid-19 and children's rights: a lesson for the future” and the meeting of the General Assembly, it was organized by the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) in Athens from 27 to 29 September.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children's rights was discussed during the ENOC conference, focusing on areas such as education, health, protection from violence, poverty, and children's right to participate in decision-making. Child mental health issues during the pandemic were specifically addressed.

The pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus has had serious consequences for children's education. Distance learning cannot ensure the quality and skills that children would need to acquire in an educational institution. There was talk of the need for educators to provide more support to children, given the difficulties previously encountered with distance learning. In most cases, children's views on pandemic restrictions were not heard. When adopting the new restrictions, it would be important for countries to be aware of the potential consequences for children of the overall consequences of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, caused by pandemic restrictions.

Restrictions created economic hardship for families and increased poverty. Countries should provide support to families, especially those whose parents have lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference praised the benefit of 500 euros (for each child) granted to families with children in Latvia, as well as providing free lunches for 1.-4. class pupils, which municipalities continued during distance learning.

The Seimas Ombudsman, Head of the Office Augustinas Normantas met with the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Michael O’Flaherty, who expressed unconditional support for the prevention of torture carried out by the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office at the frontier of Lithuania and Belarus.

The Seimas Ombudsman presented the main problematic aspects of human rights protection and discussed the performed human rights monitoring at the border. Mr. O’Flaherty expressed his criticism about the conditions for restricting foreigners’ freedom and expressed concern about the detention of people, especially vulnerable groups. The Head of the Fundamental Rights Agency also promised to address the international and Lithuanian communities by encouraging monitoring of human rights at the frontier.