51 First five years – some results This is a breach of the duty to make an individual administrative decision for intrusive measures such as manual restraint, and it will in many instances be a breach of the conditions required by law for using restraints. In a separate thematic report on segregation, we emphasised this issue in addition to several other problematic findings concerning hospitals' use of segregation.10 The Directorate of Health has now specified that it is not allowed to use manual restraint to initiate or maintain the segregation of a patient, apart from gentle physical leading.11 New draft legislation on the use of coercion in the health and care services A new draft legislation proposal on the use of ­coercion in the health and care sector was ­presented in June 2019.12 The Committee responsible for drafting the proposal referred several times to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s preventive work, in particular with regard to the use of segregation. 13,14 In our thematic report on segregation in mental healthcare institutions, we concluded that the current use of segregation constitutes a risk of inhuman treatment.15 The Committee finds that the current legal regulation of segregation is unsatisfactory. The Committee proposes raising the threshold for segregation as a form of treatment, for instance by ensuring that the legal requirements are the same as for other forced treatment. Our reports on degrading conditions in many of the segregated units also appear to have influenced the Committee, which specifies that segregation rooms should be furnished in the same way as an ordinary patient rooms, if reasonable in relation to individual risk assessments. In several reports, we have pointed out that restraint beds should not be placed in segregation units. They create a sense of insecurity among the patients, and easy access to them can increase the risk of restraint beds being used. The Committee recommends phasing out the use of mechanical restraints over the course of a three-year period after the law has entered into force,16 and that, in the meantime, ‘mechanical devices should not be kept in the vicinity of the ward in question when not being actively used’.17 A room in a segregation unit in a psychiatric hospital ward visited by the NPM. 10 For a more detailed description of segregation, see the thematic report ‘Skjerming i psykisk helsevern – risiko for umenneskelig behandling’ (‘Segregation in mental healthcare – risk of inhuman treatment’ – in Norwegian only), 2018. 11 Circular Mental Health Care Regulations with annotations, Section 18, fifth paragraph. 12 Tvangsbegrensingsloven. Proposal for common rules on the use of coercion and intervention without consent in the health and care sector. Norwegian Official Report 2019:14. 13 Norwegian Official Report NOU 2019:14 Chapter 6: Experience of using the sets of rules, sub-chapter 6.2.5. The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s National Preventive Mechanism. Our annual reports and thematic reports on segregation in mental healthcare institutions are summarised here. 14 Norwegian Official Report 2019:14. Sub-chapter 25.6.3.2 Criticism of the use of segregation. 15 Thematic report on segregation in mental healthcare – risk of inhuman treatment (2018), see sub-chapter 8.7 Segregation and human rights. 16 Draft legislation Section 4–3 third paragraph. 17 Draft legislation Section 4-4 third paragraph.