Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2013 Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners62 (Rule 17) and the European Prison Rules63 (Rule 20). Therefore, the representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism recommended that inmates be allowed to wear their own clothing when being escorted outside the unit, and that prison uniforms should be used only on a caseby-case basis justified by specific circumstances. 2.3.2. Access of inmates to health care The comparison of 2013 and 2012 in terms of access of inmates to health care and conditions in which health care is provided does not reveal any significant changes. There are still units where inmates interviewed by the representatives of the Mechanism complain about brusqueness of medical personnel in contacts with inmates, the failure to take the reported ailments seriously, no basic examination during the visit to the doctor, long waiting time for medicines when their supplies are over, being brushed aside by doctors and long waiting time for a visit to a specialist. The prisoner-doctor relations are a systemic problem64 intrinsic to treatment of inmates by medical personnel which stems from the fact that doctors are often and nurses almost always the officers of the Prison Service. Therefore, doctorsofficers have the instruments to discipline the inmates, i.e. the right to request a disciplinary penalty for a patient. In the opinion of the representatives of the NPM, such situation does not allow for an egalitarian relation between a doctor and a patient which determines the quality of provided care. In two prisons65, an important problem in 2013 was the insufficient personnel of prison health care service to provide regular health care to persons deprived of liberty. The reason was the fact that penitentiary units are not competitive as employers for doctors. The phenomenon is particularly marked with regard to medium-level medical personnel, ophthalmologists and psychiatrists. As regards the access to doctors, the NMP representatives are of the opinion that the presence of non-medical staff during the provision of health care services to inmates should be exceptional and should take place only when it is required to ensure safety of the person providing the health care services, upon explicit request of the medical personnel. In comparison with the previous years, the situation in this regard in 2013 has improved, with the presence Resolutions of the UN Economic and Social Council 633C [XXIV] of 31 July 1957 and 2076 [LXII] of 13 May 1977. 63 Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers of 11 January 2006. 64 See: Report from 2012, p. 38. 65 Prison in Iława, Prison in Żytkowice. 62 35