health care addition, the Ombudsman headed the resource management audit of the VTH during the year under review. The Ombudsman pointed out, for example, that a person who has been placed under observation due to suicidal thoughts should undergo a medical examination as soon as possible, even if the prisoner was met only briefly before being placed under observation. Sobering-up stations In 2017, the NPM also visited a sobering-up station run by the local authorities. The visit was combined with the visit to Espoo police prison, as detailed in the section above on visits to police prisons. The visit was made in the evening, with the participation of an external expert. The visit mainly focused on the role played by sobering-up station staff when managing persons deprived of their liberty and held in the police detention facilities. The NPM was particularly interested in their role in situations where the staff at the police prison used the restraining bed. The police prison discontinued the use of the restraining bed after receiving the Deputy-Ombudsman’s opinion, due to which the Ombudsman no longer had any reason to evaluate practices related to the use of the bed. Instead, the Ombudsman made the following statements and recommendations: • The Ombudsman drew attention to the protection of the privacy of those deprived of their liberty held in police prisons, when they are seen by the nurse from the sobering-up facility. The Ombudsman finds it essential that the safety and security of health-care professionals is guaranteed at all times. The need for the presence of a guard must be separately assessed in each individual case and the arrangements should be such that the violation of privacy is as minor as possible. • The Ombudsman recommended that in all cases where the personnel at sobering-up stations are made aware of injuries sustained by a person who is in police custody, they should make a note in the patient’s records of the injuries and of the account of the person deprived of their liberty on how these injuries were sustained. After this, the person deprived of their liberty should immediately be referred to a physician for the examination and detailed documentation of their injuries. The Ombudsman stressed that the injuries need not be serious enough to require treatment, and the matter is primarily one of appropriate documentation. • The Ombudsman stressed that it was unacceptable that customers of the sobering-up station were unaware of their legal status, and that they were free to leave at their own discretion. The Ombudsman pointed out that staff members at the sobering-up station are obliged to inform customers that they are not in police custody while they are staying at sobering-up station. 91