Annual report 2011: Spain’s National Preventive Mechanism with the relevant provincial bar associations for the provision of legal counselling free of charge. This situation was found to persist during the inspections conducted in 2011, so the Ombudsman issued a recommendation to the DGP for procedures to be drawn up and agreements to be signed as necessary to ensure that the legal rights of detainees are not constrained. Access to interpreters and translators must be facilitated at all CIEs. Healthcare must be available at all times A significant number of complaints were received about the medical care provided. 92.  Article 27, subsection e) of the Ministerial Order of February 22nd 1999 establishes that detainees who do not speak or understand Spanish have the right to be assisted by an interpreter. At the CIEs visited to date it has been observed that this provision is not implemented. At some centres access to translators is provided only in special cases, while for the rest other detainees who can act as interpreters are used. Being foreign nationals, many detainees do not speak Spanish, so the services of an interpreter and must be guaranteed throughout their detention to guarantee their right to medical attention, legal aid, the filing of complaints and claims, etc. Measures must be taken as necessary to ensure that access to translators and interpreters is feasible at all CIEs. 93.  Article 22 of the Ministerial Order of February 22, 1999 establishes that foreign nationals must undergo a medical examination within 24 hours as from their admission. However, on the inspection of the CIEs in de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia it was found that there was no doctor on duty at weekends, so it was not possible to conduct medical examinations on detainees admitted after midday on Fridays. This lack of healthcare personnel over a significant period of time including night-time and weekends may compromise the right to health of detainees, since it may force unqualified personnel to make decisions regarding urgent healthcare. Since healthcare provision at all CIEs is outsourced to the company SERMEDES, the contract between the Ministry of the Interior and the said company should be extended so that care is available at all times. On the inspection visit to the CIE in Valencia a significant number of complaints were received from detainees who considered that the medical care available was insufficient. On the inspection visit to the CIE in Santa Cruz de Tenerife one of the detainees complained of the way in which he had been treated by the doctor at the centre. He felt that the treatment prescribed at the hospital, to which he had been taken with orchitis, was not suitable and that the doctor was unwilling to send him back to hospital for further tests. This complaint was brought up in the conversation held with the head of the Centre at the end of the inspection visit, and this Office was informed that the doctor considered the treatment prescribed on the initial visit to the hospital to be correct, but that the patient was being monitored in case further tests proved necessary. Finally, it must be placed on record that the DGP reports that a protocol is being drawn up on dealing with pregnant women held in police custody, as requested in paragraph 265 of the Annual Report 2010. 116    THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN