and provided their opinion on the basis of their findings on medical and health care. The report on the visit was submitted to the institution. Following the institution’s response, a final report was prepared, which was sent to the relevant institution, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and a courtesy copy was submitted to the social inspection service. To the residents of a special social care institution, the institution in which they are placed is home, since they spend most of their lives there. Which is why living conditions are even more important, and determining their appropriateness is a vital mission of the NPM. When visiting the Marof unit of Idrija Retirement Home, for example, we stressed that due to the dilapidation of the unit, the staff must pay extra attention to the condition of the equipment in bathroom and (other) areas in secure wards. Care for the hygiene of the residents in individual institutions is undoubtedly also important. We highlighted in the relevant unit that, according to the NPM, the interval of bathing every three weeks was too long and failed to ensure normal hygienic conditions. For residents who require more frequent bathing because they are physically active, sweat more during summer or get dirty, such long intervals between baths could even be understood as ill-treatment. We frequently notice deficiencies when medication is prescribed “as needed.” We also stressed in this unit that it would be suitable for doctor to accurately determine the period in which a certain medical treatment may be repeated. This is the best way to prevent exceeding the maximum prescribed dose of a psychotropic medication. We prepared a total of 23 recommendations. The institutions concerned responded positively to our visits and provided recommendations. When conducting a control visit to Dutovlje social care institution, we established that most of the recommendations we made during our visit in 2015 had been observed. The NPM made 17 recommendations upon its previous visit to this institution. We determined that the institution had accepted 7 recommendations, which had not been (fully) implemented. It was encouraging to observe that the institution realised 10 recommendations made upon the previous visit. This shows that the institution had taken the recommendations seriously and made an effort to implement most of them, or at least tackle their implementation. Relating to the aforementioned, we determined that conditions in this institution (particularly after the opening of the renovated secure ward) were improving with regard to the spatial situation and residents’ satisfaction. Nevertheless, there were still possibilities for improvement to which point 6 recommendations which were repeated or made anew on the basis of findings determined during the last visit. We made 17 recommendations when conducting a regular visit to the Marof unit of Idrija Retirement Home. We expect that the home will accept and observe them. Since we visited the home at the end of 2016, we have been waiting for the home’s response during the preparation of this Report, including clarifications on observing the recommendations or their possible implementation. This was also the reason we were unable to include the response of this institution to our recommendations. During the thematic visit (more on this visit can be found in a separate chapter) to Nina Pokorn Home in Grmovje, we particularly emphasised that it is imperative that the residents be able to spend their time qualitatively and have access to suitable activities since the institution provides a home for adults with special needs, where they may spend most of their lives. The residents of the secure ward cannot leave the ward independently; some receive visits occasionally or not at all. It is thus even more important for residents to be able to do things with which they can spend their free time actively and usefully at weekends, also according to their wishes and needs. Spending time actively would also be useful for residents from a therapeutic point of view and maintaining their mental, physical and thus related work skills. In particular, this would prevent residents from sitting resignedly in the ward during the weekend, smoking more or even becoming restless, irritable and difficult to manage due to the lack of work and monotony. Secure wards at (special) social care institutions visited in 2016 The Marof unit at Idrija Retirement Home has two secure wards. The dementia ward (‘Sončnica’) and the secure ward (‘Mavrica’) are on the second floor. There are 14 female residents in the Sončnica dementia ward (13 were present during our visit, one resident was at an examination in the hospital); 22 residents are in the Mavrica secure ward. The visit took place on 10 November 2016. The management of the Marof unit of Idrija Retirement Home failed to provide a reply to the preliminary report before the preparation of this Report; the deadline for their reply has not expired, which is why the response of the institution is not provided, or No data is stated below the recommendations. 66 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2016 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT