CAT/OP/ROU/1/Add.1 Unfortunately, only 4 doctors (2 in Bucharest and 2 in Oradea) passed the exam, due to the general lack of doctors in Romania. These are hired as civil staff and not as a police officer, so the status is similar to doctors in the public health units under the subordination of the Ministry of Health. Regarding the status of the doctors working in Centres for Detention and Preventive Arrest, Ministry of Internal Affairs want to mention that there is no subordination relation between them and the police structures. They are members of the Romanian College of Physicians, having the obligation, in the exercise of this profession, to respect the rights of assisted persons under national law. Physicians have a free practice authorization targeted annually according to the national regulations in force, by the Romanian College of Physicians. According to the regulations of the Order of Minister of Health no. 1171 of September 21st, 2015, concerning the population in penitentiaries and other correctional institutions it is foreseen that all persons deprived of liberty be presented for conducting pulmonary X-ray and specialized examinations, so that at the moment of their entry in the penitentiary the "pneumo-physiological status" of the patient is known to the doctors. All persons deprived of their liberty, whose detention period in Centres for Detention and Preventive Arrest exceeds 24 hours, are planned for the specialized examination (pneumo-physiological and radiological) for the active detection of tuberculosis infection. Although the medical staff are employed by the prison system, they comply with all the norms of the Ministry of Health on profession and on job training. They are full members of the professional organizations in the field, namely of the Doctors’ College in Romania and the Order of Generalist Nurses, Midwives and Nurses in Romania. In the prison system, medical staff’s professional independence is guaranteed. The whole professional activity of a doctor is dedicated exclusively to defending the life, health, physical and mental integrity of the human being. We consider that this recommendation is already implemented in the prison system, being regulated by the law of serving the sentences. Thus, ambulatory medical care can also be provided in the specialist ambulatories of the medical units in the field, which have concluded a contract with the health insurance companies, or the inmate can ask to be examined for a fee, at the detention place, within the medical sector, by a doctor from outside the prison system. The findings made by the doctor from outside the prison system are written down in the inmates’ medical file. Para. 66 – The involment of the Ministry of Health into monitoring prison health As for the recommendation that the Ministry of Health should be involved into monitoring prison health, we underline that this ministry does not have subordinated health units to offer a territorial coverage to all the prisons and, in case there is one, it provides only hospital and ambulatory medical assistance. The Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Justice, concluded in December 2016, specifies measures for providing the medical care in the public health network. Concerning the activities related to inmates’ medical care, the Ministry of Health supports the medical work of the prison system, as follows: Recruiting the staff who provides care In the prison system, medical staff with higher education is employed following a competition procedure, according to the legal provisions of the Ministry of Health, namely the Minister of Health Order no. 698/2001 on approving the methodologies for recruiting, transferring and posting/deploying doctors, pharmacists, biologists, biochemists and chemists, and other specialized personnel with higher studies in public health facilities, with subsequent amendments. Also, the members of the 23