Retirement and nursing homes institutional clothing instead of their own clothes. Mobile partitions in rooms with several beds were not used even during care procedures involving private parts. Municipal department 15 explained in this respect that no deficits had been identified during a previous visit in spring 2019. The home considered the staff’s treatment of the residents as respectful and polite, but was prepared to deal with critical observations. The importance of manners was emphasised and participation in further training programmes on violence and deescalation advocated in a team meeting. The management also had a detailed discussion with the qualified nurse on the observations made by Commission 4. The home was noted for a follow-up visit. Worn rooms and cramped conditions were problematic in certain homes. In a home in Lower Austria Commission 5 observed that residents had to eat their meals in a noisy atmosphere between laundry carts in the corridor. 2.1.2 Video conference with care facilities Online contact and telephone interviews The NPM maintained contact with care facilities via video conferences when most of the visits stopped. These took place particularly when concrete complaints from residents, their relatives or the staff gave grounds for concern. During the first lockdown in particular it was evident that combining the preventive and ex-post control mandate of the AOB as an Ombudsman institution was a contributory factor when immediate action was required by the authorities in certain situations. Commission 3, for example, contacted the employees of a home in Styria by video conference because there were indications that several of the residents were showing symptoms of a COVID-19 infection and half of the staff might also have been infected. It became clear during the conversation that the operator had neither forwarded information from the health authorities to the care service and the staff nor had they implemented other measures to get the situation under control. Staff who were on sick leave were listed in the shift plan. The alarming conditions were immediately brought to the attention of the office of the Regional Minister of Health. Commission 3 was informed a few hours later that substitute personnel from other facilities would be recruited to carry out an evacuation. All of the residents were moved to hospitals in Hartberg and Weiz due to the risk to their life and limb confirmed by the official expert. The continued operation of the home was made subject to compliance with several conditions. The home has since been closed down. Legal proceedings have been opened against the operators. 166 telephone interviews 27 Between 4 and 15 May 2020, the commissions held 166 telephone interviews with care services throughout the country. These interviews, which lasted at least half an hour, were conducted using a questionnaire especially developed for that purpose. The objective of these structured interviews was to obtain information from the source on the problems that had to be addressed during