1.3. Medical care to inmates in both the prison and the two prison hostels is provided by the healthcare centre. The centre’s facilities are in an unsatisfactory condition and in need of expansion. The medical equipment comprises of an ECG machine at the HC and an Ambu bag manual resuscitator with oxygen reservoir located at the Kremikovtsi PH. There is a 7-bed infirmary attached to the HC. The HC is staffed by one clinician, one assistant medical officer, and a dentist whose office is at the Kremikovtsi PH. On average, fifty-four inmates were seen at the HC daily. Sixteen inmates were treated at the infirmary, and consultations with external specialists were requested for two hundred-and eighty-one inmates. The prison hospital is structured and run in accordance with the provisions of MoH Ordinance No. 49 of 18 October 2010 relating to the essential requirements for the setup, activities, and house rules of inpatient medical establishments and homes for medical and social care. Currently the hospital is staffed by six clinicians (two surgeons, two general internists, one radiologist, and one part-time orthopaedic traumatologist), three assistant medical officers, eight registered nurses, one X-ray technician, two clinical laboratory technicians, one physical therapist, one medical secretary, one pharmacy manager and one assistant pharmacist. The hospital is classified as an active treatment hospital establishment. However, following a staffing reform, which resulted in loss of medical specialists, its intensive care functions have been in decline and it essentially functions as a long-term care hospital providing treatment and 24/7 medical assistance for inmate patients from the prison and the prison hostels. With respect to the Sofia prison, the NPM presents the following recommendations:           Measures should be taken to ensure fair and reasonable pricing for food items sold at the commissary. This recommendation applies to all correctional facilities; Stricter control should be exercised on a daily basis over the quantity and quality of food prepared in the kitchen of the Sofia prison in accordance with the approved Table 1 and allowance A; Placing orders for perishable items for sale at the prison commissary should be rationalized; Actions should be taken to overhaul the roofing structure of the central food storage site; Statutory requirements regarding the distribution of detainees and criminal defendants to be kept in permanently locked remands under Article 248, para 1 of the EPRCA, and the living space standard should be invariably observed in all penitentiaries; The Kazichene PH should be supplied with minivans for the safe transportation of work release inmates; The Kremikovtsi PH should be closed; prison guard staffing levels at the Sofia prison should be optimized; The HC should be adequately staffed, the centre should be expanded and the condition of its facilities should be enhanced; The Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty should be transformed into a long-term care hospital (convalescent hospital) in conformity with its current functions. 45