El lugarteniente aragonés, Javier Hernández, será el único español en participar y expondrá la visión de la institución sobre el derecho a la salud en el medio rural.

Los próximos días 21 y 22 de septiembre el lugarteniente del Justicia de Aragón, Javier Hernández, participará en la ciudad de Roma en la Conferencia internacional de Ombudsman, que bajo el lema “El papel de los defensores del pueblo en el mundo: entre realidad y posibilidad” (1), reunirá en la Cámara de Diputados de la capital italiana a más de 256 representantes de más de 83 defensorías de los cinco continentes, bajo la organización del “Difensore civico della regione Lazio” y el “Coordinamento nazionale defensori civici delle regioni e delle province autonome italiane” y con el patrocinio de la “Comisión de Venecia” y el “Consejo de Europa”.

La participación del lugarteniente, única a cargo de una defensoría española, se realizará dentro del apartado “Salud y acceso a los cuidados: desafíos y soluciones/Dignidad de las personas vulnerables”, junto a los representantes de Ucrania, Bulgaria, Argelia, la provincia autónoma de Trento y la Universidad de Florencia, en el que expondrá su ponencia: “La situación de la sanidad en la España rural”, y en ella trasladará los trabajos y resultados tanto de las XXXV Jornadas de Coordinación de Defensores del Pueblo españoles, celebradas en León en octubre de 2022, en las que se elaboraron las conclusiones: “La prestación del servicio público de salud en el medio rural” (2), como del “Informe Especial del Justicia sobre Sanidad en el Medio Rural” (3) que a finales de 2022 analizó en profundidad la situación de los servicios sanitarios aragoneses en dicho entorno poblacional.

El encuentro tendrá un acto previo el día 20, de apoyo al pueblo ucraniano, con la presencia del Comisionado parlamentario ucraniano para la defensa de los derechos y libertades.

1. Programa de la Conferencia

2. Conclusiones Defensores del Pueblo XXV Jornadas de Coordinación

3. Informe Especial de Sanidad en el ámbito Rural – Justicia de Aragón

Strengthening Accessibility in Gozo

To better serve our community and uphold our commitment to accessibility, The Office of the Ombudsman is holding regular monthly meetings in Gozo. These sessions are specially designed for persons and complainants residing in Gozo.

Details of the Meetings:

When: Every first Saturday of the month.
Time: 08:30am – 11:00am.
Where: Administration Building, Gozo Heliport, Xewkija.

Upcoming Sessions:

OCTOBER: Saturday, 7th October
NOVEMBER: Saturday, 4th November

For additional information or queries, the public is kindly invited to:

Email: pro@ombudsman.org.mt
Call: 2248 3216

A pregnant woman with a mood disorder was left ‘confused and terrified’ after doctors failed to realise she was in labour and refused to call her partner to be with her.

The 39-year-old from Buckinghamshire who has cyclothymia, which is similar to bipolar disorder, said her experience at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust has left her too scared to have another baby.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, who earlier this year published a report about repeated failings in England’s maternity services, found medics failed in their care.

The Ombudsman found that the Trust failed to act in line with NICE guidance by not examining the woman when she was having regular painful contractions and by failing to provide timely and effective pain relief.

It was also a failure to not arrange for her partner to attend the hospital.

The Ombudsman recommended the Trust apologise and make improvements to prevent other parents experiencing similar failings. It also advised them to pay the woman £875 for her pain and distress. The Trust has complied.

Ombudsman Rob Behrens said:

“Too often, the wellbeing of women and babies is put at risk by a lack of safe, effective, and compassionate care. Sadly, this is yet another example of a woman being let down by medical staff during what should have been one of the happiest times of her life.

“When the patient tried to complain and raise her concerns, she wasn’t listened to. Instead she was faced with a dismissive attitude that is unfortunately all too common in the NHS and has a direct impact on patient safety. More must be done to protect mothers and their babies and keep them safe from harm.”

The woman was pregnant with her first child when she attended the hospital for a planned induction to bring on labour.

She was given a pessary to start contractions in the afternoon. That evening, she began having regular contractions, was in increasing pain and her waters broke, but medics failed to realise she was in established labour.

The woman should have been seen by a midwife an hour earlier than she was. She was not given gas and air for three hours and despite asking for pain relief, it took five hours for doctors to give her an epidural. This goes against guidelines.

The woman said:

“I was on the floor on my hands and knees in so much pain. My whole body was shaking and I felt confused and terrified.

“No one was coming to help me and when they did, they were dismissive. I was treated like I was making a fuss over nothing.

“To be refused the pain relief I requested and instead told to try a bath was utterly unacceptable. I was so frightened. To know your safety was entrusted to staff that hadn’t fulfilled the basics of their duty of care is really concerning.”

When the woman asked the hospital to call her partner, she was told he needed to be at home resting and that she had to call him herself, which she did.

A specialist midwife clinical adviser to the PHSO said there was no reason her partner couldn’t be there, particularly as she had known mental health issues.

The woman said:

“The main thing that will live with me forever is the fact my partner couldn’t be there when I was in pain and needed him the most. I was robbed of having that support.

“My ordeal is a very large factor in us not having any more children. The trauma has been so scarring that we don’t want to risk going through the same experience again. No siblings for our daughter, no cousins for her children.

“We had meetings with the hospital afterwards and we were once again dismissed and not listened to. I started a formal complaint, but they came back with ‘we are sorry you feel this way’ and they weren’t taking responsibility. I was determined to get to the bottom of it all and reached out to the Ombudsman.

“I still feel anger, but going through the Ombudsman process and being listened to literally makes me cry with happiness. I’ve felt so supported and it has helped so much.”

L’appuntamento per l’evento è per il 21 e 22 settembre a Roma, ha spiegato Marino Fardelli, Difensore civico del Lazio e Presidente dei Difensori Civici italiani.  

Presentata oggi a Roma, in una conferenza stampa presso il Senato della Repubblica, la Conferenza internazionale degli Ombudsman. “Obiettivo principale di questa conferenza è promuovere la collaborazione internazionale e lo scambio di buone pratiche tra difensori civici di tutto il mondo, al fine di tutelare i diritti dei cittadini e garantire una governance trasparente ed equa”, ha spiegato Marino Fardelli, Difensore civico del Lazio. Alla conferenza stampa sono intervenuti anche il Presidente della Regione Lazio, Francesco Rocca, e quello del Consiglio regionale del Lazio Antonello Aurigemma e Gennaro Olivero Presidente del Consiglio regionale della Campania e Delegato al Coordinamento degli Organi di Garanzia all’interno della Conferenza delle Assemblee Legislative regionali.

256 i partecipanti, 83 dei quali rivestono il ruolo di Ombudsman, sono attesi a Roma nei due giorni della Conferenza, 21 e 22 settembre prossimi; i lavori saranno articolati in quattro sessioni tematiche, rispettivamente “L’Ombudsman, ponte tra cittadini e autorità locali”, “La trasformazione digitale”, “I diritti umani nelle crisi globali” e “Il diritto alla salute”, questi i titoli.

Nel Lazio, ha spiegato ancora Marino Fardelli, dopo 42 anni dalla creazione della figura del Difensore civico, nel 2022 questa ha ricevuto una spinta decisiva: il Consiglio regionale del Lazio ha dotato l’organismo di un sito internet dedicato, dove trovare informazioni e presentare le istanze; inoltre, Marino Fardelli ha incontrato gli studenti della regione nell’ambito dell’iniziativa “Il difensore civico sui banchi di scuola”, nel corso della quale si è recato presso 33 istituti scolastici della regione.

“Attraverso le giornate che prevedono un fitto programma, miriamo a identificare soluzioni innovative e strategie efficaci per affrontare le questioni legate alla tutela dei diritti umani, alla partecipazione democratica e alla giustizia sociale”, ha spiegato ancora Fardelli. “Siamo entusiasti di accogliere i partecipanti provenienti da tutto il mondo e di lavorare insieme per raggiungere risultati significativi”, così ha concluso il Difensore civico del Lazio.

Per guardare la Conferenza stampa: https://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/708164

Servizi delle testate giornalistiche:
https://www.affaritaliani.it/coffee/video/cronache/il-difensore-civico-nel-mondo-a-roma-la-conferenza-internazionale.html

https://www.quotidiano.net/video/il-difensore-civico-nel-mondo-a-roma-la-conferenza-internazionale-r9kypn71

https://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/video/economia-tv/1426096/difensore-civico-regione-lazio-una-conferenza-per-promuoverlo.html

https://stream24.ilsole24ore.com/video/italia/roma-presentata-conferenza-internazionale-difensori-civici/AFJwmHs

On 22 and 23 August 2023, the second and third official country review of Austria by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) took place. Together with representatives of other monitoring bodies and civil society, the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) held a press conference and gave an insight into the review process.

The Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB), together with representatives of the Disability Ombudsman, the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Austrian Initiative for Independent Living (SLIOE), held a press conference on the official country review of Austria by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and gave an insight into the review process.

Since the UN CRPD entered into force on 26 October 2008, the federal government, the Laender (the provinces of Austria) and the municipalities have been equally obliged to implement the Convention in Austria. In addition to the administration, both the federal and the provincial legislators as well as the judiciary are required to take measures or make decisions in accordance with the Convention. The state must also report regularly to the UN CRPD Committee on the status of implementation.

On 22 and 23 August 2023, the second and third country review of Austria by the UN CRPD Committee took place, for which the state received a questionnaire (List of Issues) to be answered in advance. The state responded with contributions from all federal ministries and Laender (state party report). In addition, civil society (coordinated by the Austrian Disability Council), the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the UN CRPD, the AOB and the Disability Ombudsman submitted their reports to the UN CRPD Committee. In the course of the review itself, the Austrian delegation had to answer questions from the Committee and the above-mentioned monitoring bodies had the opportunity to make a statement. The Committee critically examined the following issues: Responsibility of the Laender for the implementation of the UN CRPD, education, de-institutionalisation and accessibility.

At the end of the review process, the UN CRPD Committee issues its Concluding Observations, which state whether a state party has fulfilled its obligations and in which areas there are shortcomings. The Concluding Observations for Austria have been published on the UN website.

The Chairperson of the AOB, Bernhard Achitz, made the following comments on two key issues:

"The risk of becoming a victim of violence is high for persons with disabilities. Many institutions still do not have violence prevention policies, crisis plans and mandatory de-escalation training for their staff. The introduction of such policies must therefore be made mandatory and the compliance must be monitored".

"The work of persons with disabilities in day workshops is not recognised as work. They are not paid and do not enjoy full social insurance protection. Therefore, they remain dependent and poor.“

Press conference of 11 September 2023 on the
UN CRPD Committee’s Concluding Observations for Austria
(only available in German)

• 

  Bernadette Feuerstein – Austrian Initiative for Independent Living (SLIOE), Martin Ladstätter – Austrian Disability Council, Disability Ombudsman Christine Steger, Chairperson of the AOB Bernhard Achitz, Daniela Rammel und Tobias Buchner from the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the UN CRPD commented on the country review of Austria at a press conference.

• 

  Representatives of Austrian civil society discussed with the UN CRPD Committee the most serious shortcomings in the implementation of the UN CRPD from their perspective.

LINKS

• Concluding Observations for Austria
• A look back at the country review - Martin Ladstätter (only available in German)
• Press release on the country review of Austria - 11 September 2023 (only available in German) (164,2 KiB)