What does the ombudsman do? (easy read)

Ombudsman is a person who helps people.

His office is in Brno, but he helps all the people in the Czech Republic.

He can help and advise you if you have any problems with authorities.

The Ombudsman can help you if somebody treats you worse than others.

He can also advise and help you if you stay in a facility where they treat you badly.

I have issues with authorities

The Ombudsman can help you if the authorities are doing something wrong or when they are not doing what they should be doing.

The Ombudsman can help you if the authorities take too long to deal with your problem.

The Ombudsman can help you if officers treat you badly and are not helpful.

Milena’s case:

My pension used to be really low. I had very little money because of that.

I complained about it to the Ombudsman.

He found out that the authorities calculated my pension incorrectly.

The Ombudsman helped me a lot. The authorities finally calculated my pension correctly and I now get more money.

You think that it is because you are disabled

or old

or you have to take care of your children

or because you come from a foreign country.

This is called discrimination and it is not allowed.

Jana’s case:

I wanted to donate blood.

The hospital refused me because I am blind.

I complained about it to the Ombudsman and he helped me.

He told me that this was discrimination which is not allowed.

He made sure that the hospital changed its rules so that even people who cannot see can donate blood.

The Ombudsman can help you even if you live in a retirement home.

Or in a home for people with disabilities.

And also if you are in a hospital.

Or some other place that you cannot leave without permission.

Mirek’s case

I live in a home for people with disabilities and it bothered me that I had to wear pyjamas all day long.

I told this to the Ombudsman’s lawyer who visited us for an inspection.

Thanks to that we can now wear our usual everyday clothes.