Part I
ment should, however, be applied to also adult detainees placed in PDRs
where, as in police emergency centres for children, medical care is not available either.
Given the above, the NMPT is of the opinion that the issue of compulsory medical examinations of all detained persons intoxicated with alcohol,
prior to their admittance to PDRs, needs to be re-examined by the Minister
of the Interior and Administration.
4. Examination of persons with mental disorders by doctors
other than psychiatrists
As in 2015, during the visits to rooms for detained persons or intoxicated
persons to sober up, located within police units, the NMPT representatives
encountered a disturbing practice of examination of persons with symptoms
of psychiatric disorders, or with reported psychiatric treatment, by doctors
of other than psychiatrists (e.g. surgeons136, general practitioners137). In one
case, no medical examination was carried out and no medical certificate allowing placement in a PDR was issued, despite the fact that according to the
documentation, the detainee had undergone several psychiatric examinations138.
In the NMPT’s opinion, such a practice may pose a risk to other detainees’ health or lives, since a doctor who does not specialize in psychiatry may
make an error in the diagnosis. It should be remembered that admitting
a person with mental disorders to a police facility may not only pose a risk to
the person and to other people, but also burdens police officers with a very
difficult task which in fact requires specialist medical knowledge.
The problem was highlighted in the CHR’s Report on the activities of
the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2015139.
The Deputy CHR, in his general intervention of 7 January 2016, also requested Commander-in-Chief of the Police to take appropriate action to
eliminate the identified practice140 in a reply of 9 February 2016, the Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Police indicated that the legislator did not determine the specific specialization of doctors to examine persons prior to their
PDR in Aleksandrów Kujawski.
PRD in Płońsk.
138
PDR in Aleksandrów Kujawski.
139
CHR’s Report on the activities of the NPM in Poland in 2015. The report is available on the NMP
website under the tab Reports on the activities of the NPM.
140
CHR’s general intervention of 07.01.2016 to Commander-in-Chief of the Police, ref. no. KMP.570.25.2015.
136
137
51
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