National Preventive Mechanism the special needs of those patients affected by human trafficking or psychic or physical violence, above all children, women or persons with disabilities. Following the recommendation of the NPM, the Federal Ministry of Health and Women’s Affairs declared the use of psychiatric intensive beds (net beds) and other “cage-like beds” inadmissible by way of a directive in July 2014. Owners and operators of hospitals and nursing homes were given a one-year transition period until 1 July 2015, which was observed by the responsible legal entities (see NPM Report 2014 and NPM Report 2015, p. 43 et seq. and p. 46 et seq.). Impact of the abolition of net beds evaluated The psychiatric ward No. 3 of the Otto Wagner Hospital has not used net beds since October 2014 as part of a pilot project and, for a period of over six months, evaluated all admissions for which a restricting measure was prescribed in the admission situation. Initial results indicate that the abolition of the psychiatric intensive beds causes a relative increase in the use of fourpoint restraints in the admission ward. However, the time that patients are restrained is substantially shorter than in the previously used net beds. There is also a falling trend in the duration of the restriction in the four-point restraint. The low number of cases might prevent this first study on evaluating the abolition of psychiatric intensive beds in Austria from drawing any general conclusions, but it does provide an initial insight into developments that go hand in hand with the abolition of net beds. These results are in line with the observations of Commission 4. However, the Commission also indicates that the frequency of four-point restraints could also be reduced by increasing personnel resources to enable 1:1 care for preventive avoidance of measures that restrict freedom. Encouragingly, most of the doctors interviewed by the Commission but also many of the nursing staff now agree to the abolition of net beds and are in favour of dispensing with this security equipment. XX Video interpreting services should be expanded in hospitals in order to accommodate the intercultural care of patients. XX The setting up of central registers to record measures that restrict freedom in psychiatric institutions and facilities should be prescribed by law. XX A stronger sensitisation in relation to victims of human trafficking or psychic or physical violence (children, women or persons with disabilities) must be anchored in the training of all health care professions. This must also be made legally binding. XX Sexual harassment must be combatted with further education and training of personnel on the topics of culture, tradition, closeness and distance. Patients should receive information material on possible contacts during admission to hospital. Easily accessible consultation services should be extended. XX The debriefing of experiences with severe measures that restrict freedom in the team and, above all, with the affected patients must be established as a standard in all psychiatric clinics. 122