16 NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2019 The NPM's employees as of 31 December 2019 Back, from left: Johannes Flisnes Nilsen, Jannicke Thoverud Godø, Jonina Hermannsdottir, Aina Holmén, Pia Kristin Lande and Mari Dahl Schlanbusch. Front, from left: Mette Jansen Wannerstedt, Parliamentary Ombudsman Aage Thor Falkanger, Helga Fastrup Ervik and Silje Sønsterudbråten. Photo: Mona Ødegård. Five years of preventive work The reports and the direct follow-up of the places in question form an important part of the NPM’s work. Many of the challenges identified by the Parliamentary Ombudsman, however, are relevant to several institutions and should be raised with a higher level of authority. In 2019, the NPM has therefore had a special focus on collecting some of the most results after five years of preventive work. In spring 2019, the Parliamentary Ombudsman submitted a Special Report to the Storting on Solitary Confinement and Lack of Human Contact in Norwegian Prisons. The Special Report is the most powerful instrument available to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. In autumn 2019, we have spent time looking into the findings outlined in this report with different parts of the public ­administration (see Chapter three). We have also mapped the use of restraint beds in prisons and spent time looking further into the findings we published in thematic articles earlier this year, including the use of coercion in mental healthcare institutions.