ANNUAL SPECIAL REPORT 2017 • • • • • 17 Facility. It would also contribute to maintaining their self-esteem and smooth reintegration insofar as training is a professional qualification. Social Services within Detention Facilities play, pursuant to the Internal Regulation of Operation of Type A and B General Detention Facilities (Ministerial Decision 58819/2003), an especially important role, as they contribute to the improvement of prisoners’ lives within the Facilities, but also act as a liaison with the social environment on the outside. Apart from that, Social Service reports, which are regarded as an objective evaluation tool, protect the implementation of the procedure of leave. Psychologist service is deemed equally important. The National Preventive Mechanism welcomes the establishment of the first Rural Prison Facility in Eleonas in Thebes and expects that the conditions will soon be appropriate to extend those installations. Deputy Ombudsman Giorgos P. Nikolopoulos, head of the National Mechanism, was present at the inauguration of the Facility. We consider especially useful the publication by the Ministry of Justice of a Practical Guide on Preventing Suicides, titled “Suicide in Prison: How to prevent it?” which was distributed to prison staff having direct contact with inmates and was aimed at early detection of suicides and other self-destructive actions of prisoners. The cooperation agreement between the General Secretariat for Crime Policy and the Hellenic Open University, for 20 scholarships annually to prisoners enrolling in undergraduate courses, is also marked as positive. Finally, we note with satisfaction that the disciplinary cells in the Corfu Facility were abolished and turned into a museum, while disciplinary cells in the Patra Facility were also taken down, pursuant to criticism by the CPT and the Ombudsman. Individual inspections and observations Korydallos Prison Hospital and the branch for HIV-positive prisoners The Mechanism visited Korydallos Prison Hospital and the branch for HIV-positive prisoners, which has been in operation for the last three years. The Hospital consists of dormitories, not organized in clinics, as is the case in general hospitals, since its operation resembles more that of health centres. Hospitalisation for those able to move takes place in out-patient offices. Prisoners in the newcomers chamber have no contact with other inmates, until their test results for infectious diseases come out, which may take up to more than one week. The hall is divided in two separate spaces, one totally empty and one with only two double bunk beds. At the time of inspection, four people were put in this space, which resulted in a suffocating feeling inside the dormitory. Cancer patients are treated by doctors in public hospitals, such as Metaxa Hospital, to which they are transferred for radiation