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9. Persons deprived of their liberty at the places of detention visited by the NPM
I underlined that during the planned refurbishment of the Institution, it
must be ensured that the conditions of the residents’ placement prescribed
by law are ensured. Involving the Institution in the Government’s strategic
plan regarding deinstitutionalisation, with a view to providing for at least
some of the residents through social community care, could be a development concerning the problems of placement as well as with a view to compliance with Article 19 of the CRPD.
The general practitioner who provided medical treatment for the residents
came to see patients twice a week, while the psychiatrist came once a week
to the Institution. If the medical condition of a resident so required, the general practitioner came to see him/her at the Institution outside his/her regular
hours. The psychiatrist examined those residents, on the one hand, in relation to whom the nurses noticed some problems, and on the other, he/she
continuously monitored the psychiatric condition of all of the residents even
if they did not seem to have any complaints (each resident’s condition was
reviewed once a year). The medication prescribed for residents living with
psycho-social disabilities was in compliance with advanced medical standards. The psychiatrist also conducted therapy sessions with the residents.
Most of the residents were familiar with the type of illness for which they had
to take medication. Dental services began to be provided once a week in the
properly equipped dentist’s office of the Institution a couple of weeks prior
to the time of the visit.
The rules of ordering restrictive measures are set forth in Chapter 9 of
the House Rules of the Institution. The regulation did not use the terms employed by the legal provisions in force; what is more, it entitled the director
as well as the unit head to order the use of restrictive measures. I asked the
head of the Institution to revise the regulation in order to harmonize it with
the legislation in force.
Based on the information provided by the management, restrictive measures were used in the case of an autistic resident. Due to his/her direct selfendangering behaviour, the resident had to be taken to hospital. Later on
the ambulance took him/her back (strapped down) to the Institution, where
the resident’s hands were strapped to the bed and he/she was also given
an injection. During the application of the means of physical restraint, the
form provided in Annex 6 of the MoSFA Decree was filled in. However,
the log of the auxiliary sheet contained only the reason for ordering the restrictive measure, and did not indicate the events of the periodical reviews
applied during the measure. I called attention to the fact that during the
documentation of restrictive measures, observations made during the use
of the restrictive measure and a description of the condition must be noted
down in detail on the auxiliary sheet, in compliance with Section 101/A(3)
of the MoSFA Decree.
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