CAT/OP/POL/CSPRO/1
undergoes initial subjective (interview) and objective (physical) examination upon being
admitted to the penitentiary facility and no later than within 3 working days of admission.
122. Medical examination of people to be imprisoned is carried out by doctors and
nursing staff immediately. It is a rule that on the day of admission the convicted person is
made subject to sanitary and epidemiologic assessment and the interview is conducted to
establish the patient’s history in terms of illnesses, in particular tuberculosis, epilepsy, viral
hepatitis, HIV. The procedure of medical examination includes the chest X-ray to rule out
tuberculosis. Additionally, upon admission patients are informed about HIV contraction
issues and, if they give consent, they may be tested for HIV.
123. Any other system would require providing, in almost 120 penitentiary facilities and
external wards, medical staff for public holidays, e.g. in a form of duty hours, which would
require the recruitment of the significant number of medical staff and the significant
financial resources for salaries; this model is not justified as it would mean doubling the
functions of the State Emergency Medical Service. Additionally, it should be emphasised
that persons arrested by the police, before being placed in a correctional facility or a
detention centre, are examined in public healthcare facilities for the purpose of determining
whether they may be placed in a penitentiary facility.
124. According to the Penal Enforcement Code, at the request of the officer or a member
of staff of the prison medical treatment facilities for persons deprived of liberty, healthcare
services may be provided to the convicted person without the presence of the officer who is
not a health professional. In the majority of cases the medical staff of prison medical
treatment facilities for prisoners, resign from applying preventive security measures for the
period of medical examination or other medical procedures if there is no risk of danger on
the part of the prisoner. The staff in question possess substantive knowledge on the
circumstances in which healthcare services objectively require intimacy and respecting the
patient’s dignity, with the rules of security being followed at the same time.
125. In relation to paras 106 and 107 of the report, medical records are kept in
accordance with the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 26 February 2016 on the types
and scope of medical records kept in medical treatment facilities for persons deprived of
liberty and processing of such records (Journal of Laws, 2016, item 258), which does not
require any ‘register of injuries’ to be kept. If any injuries are discovered, relevant notes are
made in the book of health. The only place to record any disorders, including injuries, is
medical records. The introduction of other documents, such as ‘the register of injuries’,
would force medical staff to unjustified duplication of entries.
126. If an injury is discovered, a medical doctor takes a relevant note in the book of
health, describing the location and scope of the injury. Additionally, the doctor notifies the
director of the penitentiary unit in a memo. Full information on health condition, including
potential injuries, contained in medical records are made available to the prisoner and
authorised bodies and institutions in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 6
November 2008 on the Patient’s Rights and the Patient’s Ombudsman (Journal of Laws,
item 1318, consolidated text) and the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 26 February
2016 on the types and scope of medical records kept in medical treatment facility for
prisoners and processing of such records (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 258).
127. The officers and civil servants of the prison medical treatment staff attend regular
workshops, also in the area of making medical staff more sensitive to human rights aspects
and the content of ‘Istanbul Protocol’. Since July 2017, the schedules of workshops for
prison medical treatment facility staff in all penitentiary facilities and Prison Service
Training Centres include topics covered by the Protocol. At the same time during training
sessions for prison medical treatment facility management, topics covered by ‘Handbook
on Effective Investigating and Recording in Cases Related to Torture and Other Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ are also raised. In general, the priority legal act that
governs the conduct of a medical doctor, also if they are members of prison medical
treatment staff, is the Act on the Profession of Doctor and Dentist dated 5 December 1996
(Journal of Laws of 2017, item 125) and the Medical Code of Ethics.
128. As far as paras. 108–109 of the report are concerned, as regards the conclusions
relating to methadone substitution therapy in penitentiary facilities the Subcommittee
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