fundamental and human rights �.� national preventive mechanism against torture which is cheaper. Giving one’s cigarette to another prisoner during outdoor exercise was forbidden. The NPM was told that only prisoners who took their own cigarettes (a maximum of two) with them were allowed to go outside to smoke. Thus, prisoners who did not smoke could potentially spend less time out of their cells than smokers. The NPM also heard that prisoners who were caught smoking elsewhere than in the smoking yard would face a two-week ban on buying cigarettes (5563/2018). Impact of health care resources on prison activities During the visits made to Kerava Prison and VTH Kerava outpatient clinic, the NPM observed that a lack of personnel at the clinic limited the number of prisoners undergoing opioid substitution treatment that could be admitted into the prison. The Deputy-Ombudsman found it a cause for concern that a transfer to an open institution could be prevented by a lack of health care resources (448/2018). The same issue was discovered on a visit to Sulkava Prison in May 2018 (2339/2018). The Deputy-Ombudsman noted that the cooperation between the Criminal Sanctions Agency and Health Care Services for Prisoners (VTH) was not optimal with regard to taking the prisoners’ need for health care services and the availability of health care personnel resources into account in the placement of prisoners. As key players in the process, the assessment centres should be aware of the facilities’ capacity for meeting the health care needs of prisoners placed in them. VTH’s treatment guidelines require multidisciplinary cooperation in the implementation of substitution treatments. The team includes a drug and alcohol counsellor employed by the prison. In accordance with the guidelines, a drug and alcohol counsellor’s duty is to take care of the psychosocial rehabilitation of prisoners receiving substitution treatment. The guidelines also specify minimum requirements for the presence of a nurse and physician in the prison before substitution treatment can be implemented in the first place. It seemed 88 that these requirements were not being met in all open institutions. The Deputy-Ombudsman recommended that the prisoner’s state of health should always be taken into account in the prisoner’s placement when it is known that the prisoner will have a greater than average need for health care services. At the very least, this applies to prisoners with disabilities and prisoners receiving substitution treatment. Treatment of foreign prisoners The proportion of foreign prisoners in Finland’s prisons has grown. At present, roughly 18 per cent of all prisoners are foreign nationals. The NPM seeks to take these prisoners into account during visits, for example by interviewing them with the help of an interpreter. In these interviews, the NPM seeks to determine whether the prisoners have been informed of their rights and duties, for example. Prisons still do not employ adequate interpretation services when dealing with foreign prisoners (2339/2018). The prison reported that it had requested a quotation for interpretation services in order to provide the service in the prison. The working groups will discuss uniform practices for the use of interpretation services. Even though the guide for new prisoners may have been translated into several languages, the translations are not always actively offered to foreign prisoners arriving at the prison. The availability of books and magazines in other languages also varies between prisons. In particular, foreign prisoners would like to have access to foreign TV and radio channels (5563/2018). The Deputy-Ombudsman has begun an investigation into the opportunities of foreign prisoners to watch television. In connection with a visit to the Department of Criminal Policy at the Ministry of Justice, the Deputy-Ombudsman expressed the opinion that the Imprisonment Act and Remand Imprison-