In what concerns the higher education, the more often cause of the complaints received is the collection of tuition fees, due because of enrollment in past years, and only now requested by Universities and other institutions. The Ombudsman underlined to all institutions the need to not rely only on limitation period rules, but to collect any debts in the quickest delay, thus sparing the interest provided by law.(48) On several occasions, the Ombudsman’s action was decisive to eliminate odd requirements, such as the establishment of the absence of any debt as previous requisite to the annulment of the enrollment, thus promoting further indebtedness,(49) or the recognition of the impossibility to collect fees for a period during which the University failed to provide as it should (the case related to the absence of tutor during the preparation of a doctorate thesis).(50) Concerning the procedure of the enrollment, the Ombudsman obtained a change, in Universidade do Minho, eliminating the default value, established in the electronic form, that provided for a simultaneously inscription in the students association.(51) In 2016, a major issue dealt by the Ombudsman related to a conflict between some private schools and the Ministry of Education, on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the support the former gave, to the public educational sector, in the framework of a triennial contract. The Ombudsman underlined that the issue should be solved strictly following the legal rules on the interpretation of contracts, rejecting both opposite positions, mutually excluding the other on constitutional and legal grounds. During 2016, 4 schools were visited, two of them of the first cycle of basic education, one of the 2nd and 3rd cycle of basic education and one secondary school. Health The complaints presented on health issues drop around 10%, however remaining in historical high levels. The major modifications were felt on complaint about the payment of user fees and, in lesser terms, concerning healthcare in hospitals. Registering, on the contrary, a modest growth, more complaints were received about delays on payments due by public health subsystems, namely the one for civil servants (ADSE). In this area, the complaints are ever more presented against other subsystems, such as the one for Armed Forces (ADM) or for Police (SAD/PSP and SAD/GNR). In the frame of the SAD/PSP, a complaint was presented against the refusal to co-pay the amount due for a certain dental treatment, as an internal rule stated a previous (48)  Complaint Q-1899/16. (49)  Complaint Q-6739/15. (50)  Complaint Q-0643/15. (51)  Complaint Q-5220/16. 64 |