88 11. Groups of persons deprived of their liberty at the places of detention whom they would like to live together. If possible, their requests are fulfilled. If someone indicated later (or the nurses realize) that he/she does not get along with his/her roommate, he/she, if possible, can move to another room. At the time of the visit, two residents were in a relationship, but there was no room suitable for marital or partnership cohabitation in the institution. According to one of the staff members of the Pécel Center, it would have been possible to designate a conjugal room, but, in his opinion, not all residents were fit to live in a partnership. According to another staff member, there was no need for a conjugal room since “the residents were wearing diapers.” It is not a problem if they take each other ’s hand, but there are cases when the demented patients “bill and coo,” “act uninhibitedly on their instincts” or, occasionally, “put their hands into their pants.” In such cases, they are told that “they have been naughty, acted improperly.” The above statements demonstrate the prejudiced mindset of the nursing staff, which may have an adverse effect on the residents’ treatment. In the Pécel Center, barrier-free accessibility was not fully implemented, and the rooms, generally speaking, were in a run-down condition. At the time of the NPM’s visit, the main building was being painted. There were not enough restrooms in Building “A,” and the number of showers was insufficient, too. The number of restrooms and showers was–temporarily–reduced by the fact that the first floor of Building “B” was flooded, so the upstairs sanitary units had to be closed. The residents of the Center could take a bath every other day, first the women, then, on the following day, the men. The more independent residents were bathed by the nurses on the night shift, the less mobile by those on the day shift. There were only female nurses working in the Center, so male residents also were bathed by them. In connection with an earlier visit to an institution taking care of persons with psycho-social and intellectual disability,210 I already pointed out that due attention must be paid to gender balance when selecting and employing staff members. The residents told the delegation that the nurses do not pay proper attention to ensuring that, when opening the bathroom’s door, those outside the bathroom could not see their naked fellow residents waiting to be bathed. The fact that male patients are being bathed by female staff members and the fact that opening the bathroom door gives sight of other patients being in there constitute an impropriety related to the prohibition of degrading treatment. The residents said that they had to buy themselves toilet paper, shower gel, and soap. The nursing staff confirmed that they provided soap or toilet paper to the residents when they had run out of their own stock. According to the prevailing legal regulations, residential institutions have to provide 210 See Report AJB-372/2015, p. 14.

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