Procedures Personal Telephone Contact
The day-to-day work of the National Ombudsman's support staff reveals that it is often extremely difficult for members of the public to decide when to seek help from the National Ombudsman. Campaigns to educate and inform the general public about the powers and role of the National Ombudsman and to correct misapprehensions are therefore essential. The preferred approach in such campaigns is to refer the public to the brochure on the website for further information. Great stress is also placed on the existence of a free telephone hotline and people are encouraged to use this to make their initial approach. They can then explain their complaint personally to a member of the National Ombudsman's front office staff, who can decide whether they should be referred to another authority or invited to submit a written petition to the National Ombudsman. This helps to reduce the number of people who write letters to the National Ombudsman and are then disappointed because he has no power to investigate their complaints. In addition, the existence of the free telephone hotline helps to make the National Ombudsman more approachable in the minds of the general public. This is desirable in view of his role in supplementing the powers of the courts by providing additional protection for the rights of individual citizens.