People restricted in their freedom are treated badly
They treat you, or someone close to you, badly in a retirement home, treatment facility for long-term patients, psychiatric hospital, children’s home, prison, or some other facility, and you think that the Ombudsman should make an inspection.
We inspect facilities where people are restricted in their freedom, including:
- Retirement homes
- Homes for people with disabilities
- Children’s homes
- Prisons
- Police cells
- Psychiatric hospitals
- Treatment facilities for long-term patients
- Facilities for detention of foreigners and others
We perform the inspections without prior notice so as to witness the actual conditions there.
We can help
- If you, or someone who is close to you, face ill-treatment in one of these facilities.
- We can talk with the facility or its founder about improving the conditions and preventing ill-treatment.
I live in a retirement home and I was bothered by the obligation to wear pyjamas all day long. I complained about that when a lawyer from the Ombudsman’s office visited us for an inspection. This helped and we can all now wear our usual everyday clothes.
The director of our children’s home was reluctant to give me permits to visit my mum at home on the weekends. I wrote about this to the Ombudsman who looked into it and, as a result, the director changed his mind and gave me the permit.
In prison, we were at first allowed to take warm showers only once a week. The Ombudsman was dealing with our case, then the decree was changed and we can now shower twice a week.
We cannot help
- We are not able to inspect every single facility, so if you, or someone who is close to you, face ill-treatment in a facility where people’s freedom is restricted, do not hesitate to submit a complaint. Even if we cannot deal with your case, we can at least give you advice on how to find a solution..