Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2013 7.3.3. Coersive measures At visited institutions, if the patient on account of illness committed violent attacks towards oneself, other persons and possessions, they applied – according to the domestic law – coersive measures, it is mainly an isolation, restraining them with safety straps and administration of sedatives. Documentation (patient restraint checklists) looked through by representatives of the Mechanism, was kept in general well, but at least cases of applying coercive measures direct weren’t completely free from the irregularity254: • in the assessment of the expert of the NMP, coincidences of the lack of grounds and clear justifying applying the coercive measure happened, in discord with Article 18 of the Act on the protection of mental health, as well as applying coercive measures direct discretionary of very patient, as well as applying individual interpretation of requirements of making a note of the fact of securing with strips, which is not harmonious with § 4 of the Ordinance of the Minister of Health from 21 December 2010 on kinds and the scope of medical documentation and the way for her of processing255; • not always short-lived partial or total freeing has been applied, recommended in § 11 sec. 1 pt 2 of the Ordinance of the Minister of Health from 28 June 2012256; • there were also cases of wrong documenting coercive measures direct; • applying immobilizing, by using the straitjacket every time during carriage of patients for consultation specialist, apart from the hospital, e.g. dentist’s, what in discord with Article 18 of the Act on the protection of mental health, which is giving the ground for applying the compulsion direct in the reaction to behaviour indicated in it of patient, without the possibility of preventive applying coercive measures direct257. 7.3.4. Right of access to information All visited hospitals followed the rule that a nurse informed the newly admitted patient about the patient’ rights in the admission room. Also a fact is worthy of notice, that in one of hospitals, in the moment of the entry, patients also re Hospitals in: Międzyrzecze, Branice, Lubliniec, Lublin, Gniezno, Radom, Toszek, Radecznica and Węgorzewo. 255 Dz. U. of 2010 r. No 252, item 1697 as amended. Hospitals in: Lubliniec, Branice, Radom. 256 Hospital in Międzyrzecze. 257 Hospital in Lublin. 254 74