In addition to the aforementioned, the administration of the Ombudsman received complaints by citizens regarding insufficient care and degrading treatment of their relatives placed in that Home. The NPM defines the above described circumstances as degrading treatment of the persons placed there, which is inadmissible for the provision of social care to adults with dementia, and believes that it is essential to adopt clear criteria and medical standards for the provision of such social services. In the light of the above, the NPM recommended to the Minister of Labour and Social Policy to take urgent measures to reduce the capacity of the institution in order to ensure sufficient privacy and sanitary units to users. Also, a comprehensive inspection of the Home had to be conducted by the Inspectorate of the Social Assistance Agency (SAS). In regard to the complaints received from citizens, the Ombudsman acting as NPM referred to the Prosecutor General signals about violations of the rights of persons placed in the Home for Adults with Dementia in the village of Gorsko Kosovo, Suhindol Municipality, with a view to preventing degrading treatment and ensuring decent living conditions. The NPM considers that there is a direct violation of Article 16(1) of the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, namely: “Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article 1, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. In a response by SAS, the findings of the NPM of the bad living conditions in the Home for Adults with Dementia in the village of Gorsko Kosovo were confirmed. As from 8 January 2020, by an order of the Social Assistance Agency, placement in this social service was discontinued. A survey will be conducted of the desire of the users of the service to be relocated to other specialised institutions for people with dementia and the capacity of the social service will be reduced to 30 persons. Given the bad living conditions, the SAS will propose this home to be included in the second Action Plan for implementation of the National Strategy for LongTerm Care for closing and for building centres for care of the people placed there and bringing out all users. As a result, the case received wide media coverage and strong response from representatives of the civil society. The Ombudsman acting as NPM held meetings with many representatives of non-governmental organisations and specialists in dementia who shared their views on the mechanisms for improving the system of residential social services for adults. Prevention of dementia through early diagnosis and professional care would further help extend the patients’ life expectancy. The NPM recommends to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to apply a strategic approach (e.g. a National Plan for Prevention, Early Diagnosis and Care for People with Dementia) to start a reform in relation to the people suffering from dementia. On the other hand, as examples of good practice, the NPM should note the Family-Type Centres for Placement and Protected Homes for Adults with Mental Disorders, Mental Retardation and Dementia in the city of Lovech. During the inspection of these residential community-based social services it was found that the services provided there were of very good quality, in an environment close to the family environment. Despite the recommendations made by the NPM for some of the services, mainly for improving the material conditions, in general the finding is about a very good level of the provided care. Their managers and teams 44