30 police • Remand prisoners are provided with fabric bedlinen, but it was noticed during a visit that a remand prisoner who had been detained at the police prison for more than a week was still using disposable bedlinen, and he also said that his cell was cold. The NPM raised the issue during the visit with a guard, who provided a duvet and fabric bedlinen. In another police prison, a remand prisoner had no sheets and the guard was asked to provide him with sheets. In the same police prison, the pillows, mattresses, and blankets were discovered to be extremely dirty. The Deputy-Ombudsman stated that dignified treatment and the principle of normality require that mattresses, pillows, and blanket must be clean and that persons deprived of their liberty need not sleep without clean bedclothes or with bedclothes used by the previous detainee. The Deputy-Ombudsman recommended that the police department ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty are provided with clean bedlinen. Follow-up: The police department responded that the dirty bedclothes had been disposed of. Furthermore, the practices in the prison had been changed so that disposable paper sheets are no longer used as a rule, since they are found to protect the bedding poorly. In the new practice, persons deprived of their liberty are provided with fabric sheets on arrival. According to the National Police Board guidelines, changing the sheets should not be left to the remand prisoner’s own initiative. The guards should proactively ensure that remand prisoners and other persons deprived of their liberty have clean and undamaged bedclothes to use, and that the sheets are regularly changed. Health care • Only a few police prisons have their health-care personnel on site, which is why NPM have repeatedly drawn attention during its visits to the standard of training given to the guards in the distribution of medicines. The general observation is that guards are not trained in or introduced to this duty. The Deputy-Ombudsman has considered the prevailing situation problematic and has stressed that the matter is not only relevant for patient safety but also for the employee’s legal protection and occupational health and safety, as the person participating in the administration of a pharmaceutical substance is always personally responsible for their actions. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that their staff is appropriately trained in their duties. Follow-up: The National Police Board has informed police departments that all guards serving at police departments will undergo obligatory medicine distribution training during spring 2018.