b) Medical assistance The material and technical equipment in the Medical Centre has not been repaired in years. The recommendation made by the NPM to improve the working conditions for the medical specialists, including by increasing their remuneration, has not been met. The medical staff works under pressure which affects the quality of medical care. Certain progress as regards the quality of the dental care in the prison must be noted. The inmates’ access to the medical specialists follows a schedule approved by the head of the prison; emergency patients are given priority. Yet again the NPM has established that when inmates are examined in the prison hospital the information about their condition and administered medication is registered in the hospital register but is not forwarded to the Medical Centre. The NPM reiterates once again that there must be a uniform information system of electronic health records in place in the penitentiary system, which allows every medical specialist therein to consult the inmates’ health condition and any administered treatments. The access to specialized medical assistance is sometimes hindered due to lack of sufficient number of officers to escort the inmates. This is why inmates continue to complain about being fixed to beds when taken outside prison for hospital treatment. No prevention is offered and no HIV/AIDS tests are made. The incidence of infectious diseases in prison is high and in most of the cases such are established in relation to other illnesses. Paid methadone substitution therapy is carried out in prison. In connection with the medical care of inmates, it must be pointed out that pursuant to Article 128, para 2 of the Execution of Punishments and Remand in Custody Act, all inmates are health insured as of the moment of their detention and they acquire the status of persons with uninterrupted health insurance rights. The contributions are paid from the State budget by the Ministry of Justice. Inmates enjoy a simplified access to the Health Insurance Fund: they do not pay a consumer fee; general practitioners working in prisons do not suffer from shortage of referrals to specialists; in case of surgeries inmates are not required to certify blood donation. In this connection the NPM proposes that by allowing inmates to take part in the national campaigns for blood donation (by forming groups of capable blood donors), the population will be guaranteed enough blood and blood products. This would help improve the prevention of infectious diseases in prison and in general, too. 3. Lovech Prison There are two prison hostels with the Lovech Prison: Atlant and Poligon, as well as a detention facility. а) Living conditions The main prison building in Lovech is separated in three zones: A Zone (central part of the building), B Zone (production activities) and a hospital with two wards. The NPM has established in the course of former inspections that the premises in A and B Zones are old and dilapidated. The NPM has recommended in its previous reports that the premises be repaired and the kitchen reequipped in both the main building and Atlant Prison Hostel. In 2019, the NPM established that the recommendation had been implemented and found further a positive trend in improving the material conditions.With a view to improving the material conditions, funds were earmarked in 2014 under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism for repair and reorganization of the psychiatric ward of the prison hospital, as well as for new 15