El Síndic de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, Ángel Luna, ha vuelto a pedir al Ayuntamiento de València que valore la universalización del bono de transporte de la EMT y permita que los migrantes en situación irregular puedan acceder a las ayudas.

En su resolución, el defensor valenciano recuerda que ya tramitó un expediente similar y que el Ayuntamiento de València mostró su conformidad con la supresión del requisito de residencia legal en España para acceder a los bonos de transporte. Sin embargo, en este nuevo expediente, el consistorio defiende que exigir el requisito de la residencia legal en España en los abonos de transporte municipales es legal.

En este sentido, el síndic recuerda que las personas en situación irregular conforman un colectivo especialmente vulnerable que se enfrenta a menudo a barreras jurídicas y prácticas en la obtención de servicios básicos como la asistencia sanitaria, la educación y el acceso a la justicia. Tanto el Derecho Internacional como el Derecho europeo imponen a todos los Estados miembros la obligación de garantizar los Derechos Humanos a todas las personas que estén en su jurisdicción con independencia de su situación, incluyendo a los inmigrantes irregulares.

Por todo ello, Luna considera que, aunque el ayuntamiento no esté obligado a facilitar el acceso al abono de transporte a las personas en situación irregular, una administración que tiene un abono específico para las mascotas (que acceden gratis al bus) difícilmente puede motivar la exclusión de las personas en situación irregular a las mismas ayudas al transporte.

Consulta nuestra resolución sobre este asunto.

The complaint

The Office of the Ombudsman received a complaint concerning the treatment of a patient’s family when the patient was hospitalised and eventually passed away.

The patient’s daughter lodged a complaint with this Office regarding an incident that occurred while her father was hospitalised for a terminal disease. In her complaint, this lady informed this Office that her mother, the patient’s wife, was not allowed near her husband due to restrictions on visiting times at the hospital, which were related to the General Elections in Malta.

The daughter claimed that the mother was turned away from the ward in an arrogant manner and, in the following days, when they queried the authorities about this, they were informed that the hospital staff was merely following regulations set out by the Electoral Commission. The relatives wrote to the Electoral Commission, which confirmed that no such restrictions were in place on that day. When questions were sent to the Customer Care Unit, the responses were unhelpful and even suggested that the hospital staff had attempted to contact the family, who were purportedly unreachable.

Facts and findings

Communications were made with the Ministry for Health by the Commissioner for Health. The Ministry provided their comments on the matter. Various meetings were held with the interested parties separately, and it transpired that the sequence of events as described by the patient’s daughter was accurate. Data logs of telephone calls to the relatives’ telephone numbers were requested, showing that four calls were indeed made to the relative’s landline registered with the ward in the contact details of the next of kin. It also emerged that there was not just one notice regarding the regulations pertaining to visitors due to the election circumstances, but at least three.

The staff noted the first, but the subsequent notices may not have been properly communicated to all staff members.

A very cordial meeting between the hospital management and the daughter and son of the patient was held, during which the Commissioner for Health explained the findings of his investigation to all present.

The situation as it evolved in the days leading to the elections was clarified to everyone’s satisfaction. The hospital management acknowledged that the information regarding the election process could have been better communicated to the entire staff, and how the Customer Care Unit handled the issue might not have been entirely satisfactory. The family was made aware that an attempt to communicate with them via telephone had indeed been made, but unfortunately, as it was a landline, this contact was unsuccessful.

At the end of the meeting, the hospital management and the Commissioner for Health inquired if the daughter’s mother would like to meet with the management so that the situation could also be explained to her. The daughter promised to ask her mother if she wished to do so, and indeed, another meeting with her mother was held at the hospital. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding her husband’s last days were explained to her, and clarifications were offered regarding how things evolved. A fruitful discussion ensued. This was a very positive meeting; all participants were satisfied with the final outcome.

Recommendations

Two recommendations were made at the end of this case:

1. The Customer Care Unit should be provided with further training on how to handle such delicate issues and communicate in a more empathetic way with patients and their relatives; and
2. When special circumstances are operating within the hospital environment, such as General Elections, the rules and regulations pertaining to such events should be carefully and effectively communicated to all staff on time to prevent any such unfortunate circumstances in the future.

Outcome

Since the Ministry for Health accepted both recommendations, this case was closed.

On July 29, 2024, the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia held a working meeting with representatives of government agencies and self-governing bodies. The theme of the meeting was the evaluation of measures aimed at preventing violence against women and domestic violence.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide information about the evaluation methodologies of the two monitoring reports to be implemented by the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia: Measures for Preventing Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, and the Action Plan for the Measures to be Implemented in 2022-2024 for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Protecting Victims.

In addition, the purpose of the mentioned meeting was to deepen cooperation with the agencies while working on special reports, which will contribute to the formation of results-oriented approaches to the fight against women and domestic violence in Georgia.

Representatives of the government agencies and self-governing bodies responsible for the implementation of the obligations provided for by the action plan and the measures aimed at preventing violence against women and domestic violence took part in the meeting. During the discussion, representatives of the agency had the opportunity to express their opinions and feedback.

The event was supported by the Council of Europe project "Reinforcing gender equality and implementing GREVIO recommendations to combat violence against women and domestic violence in Georgia".

Officers who make decisions on people’s housing needs based on medical assessments, have been provided with a new good practice guide by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Based on lessons from previous Ombudsman complaints, one of the key learning points highlighted in the guide is for councils to properly evidence that they have made their own decisions on medical needs and not automatically accepted the views of independent medical advisers.

Other learning for councils from the Ombudsman’s investigations include ensuring they consider all the evidence when making decisions, and addressing all the issues raised, as well as not delaying carrying out medical assessments or reviews.

The free guide, which can be downloaded from the Ombudsman’s website, also includes information about the way the Ombudsman investigates complaints and the remedies it may recommend where it finds fault.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“Our good practice guides share the learning from our investigations to help practitioners in councils make better decisions.

 “The guides use summaries of our investigation decisions to highlight common problems, suggest good practice tips based on where things have gone wrong, as well as explain to practitioners our approach to handling complaints on the topics. 

“I hope local authority housing teams across England will take the guide in the constructive spirit to which it is intended, and use it to reflect on their own processes and procedures to help prevent future injustice to people in their area.”

Lewisham council has agreed to pay a mother more than £14,000 after it left her in such poorly maintained temporary accommodation that it hospitalised her child.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was asked to investigate after the mother claimed the council failed to meet its homelessness duties to her for two years.

The mother told the Ombudsman the ordeal worsened her existing physical and mental health problems and one of her children has lasting health conditions caused by the poor living conditions. The family were moved between unsuitable properties at least ten times within four months, all while she was heavily pregnant.

When the mother asked the council for help with her homelessness, it failed to consider the family’s agreed needs, which meant the accommodation it offered them was unsuitable. This included a property the mother could not access due to her mobility needs and a lack of lift access, and two others away from the borough and her support network, firstly when she was pregnant and then when she had a newborn baby.

After the council placed the family in a property it considered to be suitable, the mother asked it to review the suitability, but it failed to respond. The mother also reported broken lifts, and a leak which the council failed to address, leading to issues with damp and mould.

Two months later the situation was so bad when an officer visited, the family was told they needed to move out immediately. They were placed in alternative accommodation while the issues were fixed, at which point the council failed to protect the family’s belongings from damp and mould damage.

The council then wrongly told the mother she had to return to the same property because the damp was fixed. However, it had already decided without telling her that the property was not suitable for her mobility needs.

Not long after the family returned to the unsuitable property, the youngest child was hospitalised due to mould spores. The council moved the family to unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for three months, which is longer than the law allows, until they were found new temporary accommodation in August 2023.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found fault with the way the council handled the mother’s homelessness application. It also failed to properly consider her priority on its housing register for permanent social housing. This meant the family lived in unsuitable accommodation for two years. They also faced continued instability, with frequent short term moves between multiple bed and breakfasts, often with no notice.

Additionally, the council failed to consider or respond to the mother’s concerns about accommodation being close to a perpetrator of domestic abuse towards her. It also failed to properly consider the mother’s human rights, or its duties to her under The Equality Act. She was a disabled person who was pregnant during the period complained about.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“I was appalled by what has gone on here. This mother and her children have had two horrendous years, being bounced around different accommodation by London Borough of Lewisham.

“She has told us of repeated instances where she did not know where she would be staying from one night to another, and on one occasion she and her children had to sleep in her car because the council did not tell her where to go until late at night.

“In all the family were moved between accommodation around 20 times, including stays in hotels without cots or facilities to prepare milk for the baby, and in one case they were exposed to a dangerous police incident.

“One property was so riddled with damp and mould that her youngest child was hospitalised. This is no way for anyone to live, let alone a woman with small children.

“I am pleased the council has held its hands up to what has gone wrong here and accepted my recommendations to put things right.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise and pay the mother £14,150 for the unsuitable accommodation, and distress caused by the council’s actions.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will produce an action plan to address the faults found by the Ombudsman. It will also produce a summary of the faults identified in the case and share with all relevant staff.