Fundamental Freedoms, the case Stanev v. Bulgaria (judgment of 17.01.2012). Although the case concerns a person placed in a home for people with mental disorders, the findings and conclusions of the court apply also to the homes for people with dementia. Mr Stanev who was placed under partial judicial disability, was placed against his will in a residential social service in the village of Pastra. After a visit to the service, representatives of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment with the Council of Europe considered that the conditions in the home amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment towards the people placed there, including deplorable living conditions and lack of food for a long period of time. The court holds that the Bulgarian State was aware of the deplorable conditions in that service but did not take any action to close it. The judgment states that the lack of financial resources cannot be an excuse for placing people in that service. As a result of the inspections conducted in that home, the Ombudsman acting as NPM, believes that not only the people placed there are badly and degradingly treated, but their fundamental human rights were infringed: 1. Right to private space – there are from three to seven beds in the bedrooms, separated by a narrow aisle between them. There is a bedroom without any cupboard for personal belongings due to lack of space in the room. 2. Possibility to maintain personal hygiene – there is only one shower and two toilets in a home with the capacity for 60 persons. 3. Right to free movement – the bedrooms are separated from the administrative offices by a corridor and a door, which is locked. Persons who are moving independently go outside in the yard rarely and only accompanied by a staff member. Meals are organized at tables placed in the corridor in front of the bedrooms. There is a canteen, which is one floor below but it is not accessible for people with disabilities and thus it is not used by the people placed in the Home. 4. Right to contacts with relatives – the Home is located in the village of Gorsko Kosovo, which is difficult to access with public transport. In a complaint to the Ombudsman it is pointed out that the relatives of a deceased person were refused information over the telephone (20 July 2019), and the nurse behaved rudely (4 August 2019). 5. Right to professional medical care – there is 24/7 supervision by a medical staff member in the Home but it is not efficient. A neurologist and dermatologist are appointed parttime to fill in the medical doctor F.T.E. One rehabilitation therapist is appointed with a civil contract. Nevertheless, during the inspection the NPM team established that many people were confined to bed, most of them in a state of cachexia and restrained. There was a person placed recently in the Home who had bedsores (decubitus ulcers) that had not been treated for four days due to the nurse’s absence. The general practitioner did not visit the people in the Home and had no direct observations about their health condition, while at the same time he was prescribing medication according to data obtained from the nurse. 6. Right to specialised care and social activities – there are two F.T.E.s for social workers in a home with the capacity to accommodate 60 persons, which is extremely insufficient for any professional care to be provided. There is no F.T.E. for a psychologist or labour therapist to assist the placed persons’ adaptation to living in a home. There is no space designated for labour therapy or group sessions to add meaning to the patients’ daily lives. The patients do not receive any social services in the community and in practice spend the better part of their time in their rooms. 7. Right to safety – there used to be alarm bells above the beds in the past but during the inspection few were working. This undermines the people’s safety and prevents timely reaction by the staff. 43