Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2012
the ward could not attend mass, while in another establishment296 the detained
patients could attend mass only once a month and reported that the hospital chaplain had not visited them.
11. Staff
During the visits to hospitals, the NPM representatives found that some of
them did not comply with the obligation to ensure a specific number of employees
in the wards where preventive measures are implemented which would be appropriate for the needs of the entire hospital297.
Some hospitals lacked employees of particular specialisation, e.g. a social
worker, or of particular gender, e.g. male nurses on the wards for men298. Where
no social worker was employed, the corresponding tasks were delegated to other
employees (e.g. to nurses), which could lead to deterioration of nursing care. It was
also observed that a social worker did social work for over 400 patients, which also
seems rather impossible to be done properly.
The NPM representatives are of the opinion that the failure to employ personnel of the same gender in the ward designated exclusively for patients of a particular gender constitutes an infringement of the patients’ right to intimacy.
Dr Józef Babiński Specialist Psychiatric Hospital Health Care Centre in Łódź.
The Ordinance of 10 August 2004 laying down the list of psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities where
security measures are to be applied, as well as on the composition, appointment procedure and tasks of
psychiatric commission for preventive measures (Dz. U. No 179 item 1854, as amended), version in force
until 30 January 2013, stipulated that the number of staff employed in a psychiatric establishment with
a reinforced security system should be twice as high as the capacity of the establishment. In maximum
security hospital wards the number of staff should be at least two and a half as high as the capacity of
the establishment, and the number of employed guards of criminal offenders should correspond to
at least one-third of the capacity of the establishment. Starting from 31 January 2013 Article 4(1)(4)
of the above Ordinance has been replaced and now it stipulates that psychiatric establishments with
a reinforced security system shall ensure that the staff, including security personnel, are constantly
present within the premises of the establishment or – when only part of the establishment is under
reinforced security system – of that part of the establishment during the day (from 7:00 a.m. until
10:00 p.m.) – when the number of staff should correspond to at least one-third of the capacity of the
whole or part of the establishment respectively, and at night (from 10:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m.) – when
the number of staff should correspond to at least one-sixth of the capacity of the whole or part of the
establishment respectively. Pursuant to Article 16(5) of the Ordinance of the Minister of Health of 20
April 2005 on specific rules on referring, admitting, transferring, releasing and holding juveniles in public
health care centres (Dz. U., No 79, item 692), the safety and adequate conditions of the stay of juveniles
in an establishment with reinforced security shall be ensured, inter alia, by employing at least twice as
many staff working with juveniles as the capacity of the establishment.
298
Voivodeship Hospital for Neurotic and Psychiatric Patients in Suchowola, Voivodeship Psychiatric
Hospital in Warta, Dr Józef Babiński Specialist Psychiatric Hospital Health Care Centre in Łódź.
296
297
106
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