Review of visits to institutions and certain other activities of the npm in 2018 4. 30 January The Ombudsman, Vlasta Nussdorfer, her Deputies Tone Dolčič and Ivan Šelih, the 2018 Director of the Ombudsman’s Expert Service, Martina Ocepek, and the Ombudsman’s advisers, met representatives of NGOs active in the field of work and care for elderly persons. The meeting was attended by Vida Bogataj of the ZDUS, Jože Elersič of the Association of Retired Craftsmen and Small Businessmen of Slovenia, Štefanija L. Zlobec and Maja Jurjevič of Spominčica – Alzheimer Slovenija, Dr Dušan Keber of the Slovenian Red Cross, and Zorica Škorc of the Association of Societies for Social Gerontology of Slovenia. 5. 1 February The Ombudsman, Vlasta Nussdorfer, her Deputies Tone Dolčič and Ivan Šelih, the 2018 Director of the Ombudsman’s Expert Service, Martina Ocepek, and the Ombudsman’s advisers, Dr Ingrid Russi-Zagožen, Lan Vošnjak and Liana Kalčina, met the representatives of the Association of Social Institutions of Slovenia (SSZS). The delegation included Jaka Bizjak, Secretary General of the SSZS, Denis Sahernik, Expert Associate of the SSZS, Helena Primc Kalan, Director of Logatec Retirement Home, Branko Gorečan, Director of Rive Ribnica Retirement Home, and mag. Marjan Žula, Director of Gornja Radgona Retirement Home. The discussion partners spoke about the issues most frequently encountered in retirement homes in Slovenia. The representatives of the SSZS explained that the current system of financing new constructions and maintenance, and the implementation of fundamental duties of homes were no longer financially sustainable and were unpredictable for users. There are hardly any vacancies in homes in the public network, private homes with concessions and special institutions for the care of adults with special needs. The draft of the Long-lived Society Strategy was prepared in 2017, but it was not adopted. The accessibility to such form of social care is not ensured for all citizens and the principle of solidarity is losing its primary position. They particularly highlighted the lack of vacancies for dementia patients and persons with mental disorders when being accommodated involuntarily. The homes receive court decisions on admission to a home, but these persons are then accommodated in unsuitable rooms due to the lack of facilities. In a special report, the Ombudsman pointed out the violation of rights of persons with mental disorders upon involuntary accommodation. Homes employ an insufficient number of staff to provide high-quality care, which is why the current Rules on the Standards and Norms for Social Services will have to be revised. Systemic regulation of long-term care is urgent. Retirement homes encounter numerous issues relating to hospital-acquired infections, operations of secure wards, forms of violence between residents, residents’ violence against nursing staff, violence of residents’ relatives against residents, i.e. their own relatives. 6. 2 February Deputy Ombudsman Ivan Šelih attended the 46th session of the National Assembly’s 2018 Committee on Justice where the participants discussed the draft Act Amending the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions Act. 7. 12 February At the Ombudsman’s head office, the Ombudsman, her Deputies Tone Dolčič and 2018 Ivan Šelih, the Director of the Expert Service, Martina Ocepek, and the Ombudsman’s advisers, hosted mag. Darija Kuzmanič Korva, Secretary General of the Association of Social Work Centres of the Republic of Slovenia, at a working meeting. They discussed spatial issues, critical conditions for certain groups of people, particularly dementia patients, patients with mental disorders and special needs, the issues of poverty, homelessness, quality of food in retirement homes, hospital-acquired infections and other health issues, and the enforcement of the amended Social Assistance Act, which introduced new organisational structures for social work centres. 8. 8 March At the premises of Ljubljana Red Cross Regional Association, the Ombudsman’s 2018 adviser, mag. Jure Markič, held a lecture within the training programme of introducing dementia-friendly spots. He introduced the first spot of this kind, which was opened at the Ombudsman’s head office. The lecture was also attended by Ombudsman’s adviser Ana Polutnik. The programme was prepared by Spominčica – Alzheimer Slovenija and Ljubljana Red Cross Regional Association. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2018 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT 21