between police establishments visited, from quite good through generally acceptable to very poor. 41. The Committee welcomes the steps taken by the Bulgarian authorities to improve the situation in penitentiary establishments and encourages them to pursue their efforts. However, the Committee notes a severe problem of a generalised infestation with bed bugs, including in recently refurbished facilities. In their response, the Bulgarian authorities informed the CPT that all mattresses, bed sheets, pillows and blankets in penitentiary establishments would be replaced in 2018. The Committee further notes that corruption remains a serious issue in Bulgarian prisons. As observed on previous CPT visits, prison staff appeared to be the major source of contraband entering prisons. The situation of prison health-care services remains difficult, especially as regards the serious shortage of health-care staff. In their response, the Bulgarian authorities acknowledge that a lack of medical professionals is a nationwide problem and describe measures taken to improve the situation. 42. Regarding psychiatric establishments, the CPT’s delegation received various allegations at Radnevo Psychiatric Hospital according to which patients were sometimes slapped and occasionally hit, kicked and punched by orderlies. Furthermore, orderlies there were said to carry sticks to assert their authority and threaten the patients. The Committee also notes serious recruitment difficulties regarding medical, auxiliary and multi-disciplinary clinical staff. As found by the CPT’s delegation, the inability to recruit orderlies at Radnevo Psychiatric Hospital led to the unacceptable practice of employing a number of patients to act as orderlies in the hospital, including helping the staff to control and restrain other patients. 43. The report further describes visits to homes for persons with psychiatric disorders and homes for persons with learning disabilities. In Kachulka, Radovets and Tvarditsa Homes the delegation did receive some allegations of physical ill-treatment, including blows with sticks by orderlies in Tvarditsa and Radovets Homes. The report notes that all Homes had undergone differing degrees of renovation and refurbishment, and some accommodation, especially in Tvarditsa, was acceptable. However, most of the accommodation was still scruffy, bare, austere and lacking personalisation and privacy, especially for the less able residents. The unit at Radovets Home accommodating the most disabled residents contained only two large dormitories and no sanitary facilities. In one of the two dormitories, hygiene conditions did not befit a care institution. Residents were found lying on their beds, completely covered in flies, with the floor flooded with urine and littered with faeces. After the visit, the Bulgarian authorities informed the CPT that two new sanitary facilities had been constructed in Radovets Home and that measures were being taken to ensure compliance with sanitary standards. The report concludes that residents in the social care establishments visited had de facto been abandoned by the State, which had manifestly totally failed to provide those vulnerable persons with the human contact, comfort, care and assistance they Publication highlights ► Page 21