CAT/OP/ROU/1/Add.1 D. Psychiatric institutions 1. Involuntary placement and legal safeguards Para. 120 – Procedural safeguards regarding the involuntary placement Following the SPT visit and their report regarding psychiatric institutions in Romania, the Ministry of Health and the National Mental Health and Antidrug Centre, as the specialized mental health institution subordinated to the Ministry of Health, continued their efforts in order to offer a legal framework and administrative measures to enhance quality of mental health services at national level. We focused especially on involuntary placements and forensic mental hospitals with emphasis on protecting human rights according to Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. On April 2016 the Minister of Health Order no. 488/2016 on the approval of the updated version of the Rules on the implementation of the Law on Mental Health and protection of persons with mental disorders no. 487/2002 revised, brought more precise procedures concerning involuntary placement and legal safeguards, measures of isolation and constraints. The National Mental Health Centre and Antidrug has actively been in contact with the psychiatric hospitals through regular correspondence and by disseminating relevant information concerning the rights of people with disabilities. A team of members from the Ministry of Health, National Mental Health and Antidrug Centre, the Ministry of Justice, the Romanian Governmental Agent for the European Court of Human Rights from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited during the last half of 2016 several psychiatric and forensic hospitals in order to discuss with the management and medical staff the necessary improvements on the mental health law. The visits will continue in 2017. As far as the involuntary placement and legal safeguards in the Sapunari Mental Hospital are concerned, the internal procedure provides permissions for leaving the hospital when requested, but not before having the approval of his/her doctor or chief of section . There is no difference made in the rules concerning the outfits of the patients in the psychiatric hospitals, all Romanian hospitals, including mental hospitals, conform to the requirements of the national health law, which state that patients wear pajamas when admitted. The mental health staff was trained on how to obtain the informed consent upon admission and treatment in order to avoid the repetition of the previous situations observed during the SPT visit. A special emphasis was placed on the cases when the informed consent cannot be obtained and when voluntary placement is replaced by the procedures for involuntary admissions. We are aware of the insufficient intermediate centers to provide support pending discharge from the psychiatric hospital but we would like to point out that steps have been taken to gradually implement the social support necessary for the accomplishment of the deinstitutionalization process for the persons suffering from mental health issues. The Psychiatric ward of Cluj-Napoca Emergency Clinical County Hospital was allocated a sum of 139,674.49 LEI in 2016 and 100,000 LEI in 2017 in order to improve the living conditions in the psychiatric wards. Part of the furniture was replaced, future funding will focus on improvement of outpatient’s unit and emergency room. The management encourages patients to wear their own clothing during the day. Para. 122 – Adopting measures for seting up half way houses Given both the UN Convention on persons with disabilities 7requirements as well as those of the National Strategy: “A society without barriers for persons with disabilities 2016-2020” (including its operational plan) 8, Romania has undertaken 7 8 Ratified by Romania through the Law no. 221 on 11th November 2010. Approved through the Government Decision no. 665 on 14th September 2016. 41