In response to the criticism of the NPM, the Federal Ministry of the Interior required employees working in Upper Austrian police detention centres to be sensitised to the need for written substantiation when prisoners are placed into specially secured cells and the need to guarantee medical care to these persons. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the police department of Upper Austria met with the commanders of the Linz, Wels and Steyr police detention centres in June 2014. In July 2014, selected employees of these police detention centres received appropriate training. Since then, all of the employees of police detention centres of Upper Austria have received such training. Federal Ministry of the Interior orders training The NPM considers these training and sensitisation measures to be an important step in ensuring that legal requirements for the detention of prisoners in specially secured cells and the documentation thereof are observed in the future. It can only be hoped that the measures already taken result in a permanent increase in the quality of the substantiation and documentation of the placement of prisoners into security cells. In 2012 – when faced with the question of whether persons impaired by addictive drugs are fit to undergo detention – the NPM proposed a thorough reconsideration of the placement of inebriated, substanceimpaired and mentally ill persons and persons who are a danger to themselves into specially secured cells. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced that it would develop a guideline elaborating a desirable approach so that the healthcare needed by such persons is adequately taken into account in the future. Unfortunately, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has been unable to implement its announced policy thus far. In justification, the Ministry stated that the development of such a practice guideline is closely related to the revision of the guideline for police medical service and the Code of Conduct for Detention. Substance-impaired and mentally disordered persons However, the current practice shows that it is urgent for the Federal Ministry of the Interior to reconsider its dealings with inebriated, substance-impaired and mentally disordered persons and prisoners who are a danger to themselves. The development of criteria for the medically necessary transfer of such persons to specialised clinics instead of their placement into specially secured cells could minimise the risk of jeopardising the health of this particularly vulnerable group of persons by making a bad decision. Therefore, the NPM will continue to urge such a solution. A practice guideline must still be developed   Under the detention regulations, the reason for placing a prisoner into a specially secured cell must be documented in each individual case. A guideline must be developed, which takes the healthcare of inebriated, substanceimpaired, and mentally ill persons and persons who are a danger to themselves into account. 122