During this visit, we again pointed out cases in which a patient withdraws (in
any way) their consent to be accommodated in a secure ward. In such an event,
the hospital must immediately discharge the patient from the secure ward or
instigate a procedure anticipated by the ZDZdr for the admission in cases of
emergency. We established that the staff are informed about the fact that patients may withdraw their consent regarding the accommodation at any time
and in any way, e.g. by knocking on the door, opening the door and similar. In
such cases, the staff enable the patient to consult with the doctor, who assesses
whether the discharge is possible, or the patient changes their mind after the
consultation. Based on the clarification received, we informed the hospital that
although the doctor may explain to the patient reasons why it would be sensible
to continue treatment in the secure ward, which is completely acceptable, they
may not influence the patient’s free will or persuade them to remain in the ward
on the basis of their consent. If the patient withdraws their consent, the hospital
must discharge them immediately or, if the patient agrees, accommodate them
in one of the hospital’s open wards. If the doctor assesses that the patient’s condition poses a serious risk either to themselves or other people, the patient may
be detained in the ward, but according to the provisions of the ZDZdr in cases of
emergency admission.
During the 2018 visit, we also advised the hospital to promptly find a suitable
solution for both admission wards so that SPM could be implemented without
the presence of other patients or within their sight and only in the presence of
a staff member who would implement continuous supervision as per the ZDZdr.
We were pleased to find on the occasion of this visit that there were some eighty
per cent less SPM implemented in the year before the visit, particularly due to
the emphasis on de-escalation techniques. Unfortunately, we had to repeat the
recommendation from 2018 based on the discovered conditions.
In 2018, we proposed that the hospital supplement the form regarding the record
of using SPM of physical restriction (belts, bed rails) with suitable sections where
the staff may enter measures implemented before the use of SPM (entry in an
empty field or a selection of proposed measures), and a field for data concerning
who held an explanatory discussion with the patient after the measure ended.
With regard to the established situation, we highlighted the importance of the
explanatory discussion after the completion of the measure from two aspects
in particular: the establishment of a possibly broken trust between the patient
and the person who ordered/implemented SPM, and the verification of consent
41
2.2 VISITS TO
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS
When visiting in 2018, we recommended that the hospital ensure that female
patients have enough daytime clothes at their disposal as the fact that a female
patient has no daytime clothes because of the hospital’s insufficient stock is not
acceptable. As per the opinion of the Expanded Professional Board for Psychiatry, we recommended that the hospital ensure the availability of daytime clothes
for all patients with the exception of those with whom this is unsuitable due to
somatic reasons. We were pleased to observe that male and female patients in
their respective secure wards usually wore hospital tracksuits. Unfortunately,
patients in the gerontopsychiatric ward were still in pyjamas despite the hospital’s assurance that it agreed with the NPM’s recommendation.
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