54 THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN for patients, with natural light from windows, tables and chairs and TV. The room for patient occupational therapy is nicely designed and well-equipped with handicrafts and board games. The clinic receives admissions for involuntary hospitalisation on a permanent basis. The average hospitalisation, according to the assessment of the nursing staff, varies between 20-25 days. There is no specially designed care/ isolation chamber. As physical constraints with straps are used, protective measures are taken to ensure that patients to whom the restraint measure is applied are in a room adjacent to the nursing office, in order to facilitate frequent monitoring in the absence of relevant electronic equipment. No records were found of constant controls every half hour for confinement, but generally the intervals at which the continuation or the end of the measure was confirmed appear to be reasonable. An similar assessment was made regarding to the registration of the drugs administered. As the clinic does not have a section for acute cases, a significant number of prosecutor's orders for involuntary hospitalisation from adjacent prefectures are not performed at Larissa Hospital but at the psychiatric clinics of Katerini and Thessaloniki, resulting in lengthy transfers and difficulty for relatives who wish to visit. ii. Psychiatric Clinic of the General Hospital of Tripolis The Psychiatric Hospital of Tripolis, according to the relevant announcements and the amendment of the Operation Regulation as early as 2007, is to close down and be transferred to the Psychiatric Clinic of the Panarkadikon General Hospital. While construction of the new building has been completed, studies on patient and staff safety standards are pending. However, the fact that many years have passed since the announced relocation –which has been pending for at least a decade– and the relative inactivity regarding the staffing and operation of the psychiatric hospital have created conditions of obvious abandonment in a place that is totally inappropriate for patient hospitalisation. The building is obviously neglected, with damage that has not been repaired because no funds are being given ahead of relocation. The wings of the building that are no longer operating and are in the immediate vicinity of the patients' chambers are collapsing. Rooms do not have spaces for patient's personal effects, wash basins do not work, sanitary facilities are in extremely poor condition and heating is inadequate despite the exposure of the building to very low temperatures. The rate of hospitalisation by involuntary admission is at least 90% of the total, and the average hospitalisation is in the range of 1-1.5 months, while most chronic patients have been transferred to post-hospitalisation hostels and boarding houses in recent years because of the impending relocation of the psychiatric hospital.