In the opinion of the Chancellor, giving explanations about the treatment and about the rights and obligations of the patients is essential in order to treat patients as subjects and not as objects. The possibility of storing personal belongings and creation of a pacifying environment through the furnishings of the ward is important for ensuring human dignity of the patients.49 It is also incompatible with the principle of human dignity if patients are not allowed to wear personal clothing50 or if insufficient attention is paid to offering them free time activities. Lack of activity and boredom may make patients passive towards their life, make them feel as objects of hospital treatment whose life is not meaningful, and cause restlessness in them, which ultimately also has a negative effect on the recovery of the patients. The Chancellor also found that the situation where patients, health permitting, cannot regularly spend time in open air may diminish their well-being, and constant stay indoors may cause the feeling of the deprivation of liberty.51 On this basis, the Chancellor recommended to provide more information to the patients about their rights and obligations and about the treatment, allow the patients to wear personal clothing, ensure the daily opportunity to spend time in open air as well as opportunities for spending free time and for therapeutic activities. 6.3. Keeping records of the use of means of restraint During the reporting year, the Chancellor paid more attention to keeping records of the application of means of restraint. Problems with sufficiently thorough and precise documentation were found in two institutions.52 In all of them the explanations concerning the situation prior to the application of the means of restraint, i.e. justification of restraining, and the need for continuation of restraint were scant or in some cases completely absent. In one institution53 the forms on restraint were filled out inadequately, the justification for ending the restraint was not recorded and, for example, the name and signature of the doctor deciding to end the restraint were absent. In most cases, the activities subsequent to the application of the means of restraint had not been documented. In another institution 54 the documents did not provide a sufficient overview of the restraint that had taken place because there was no record of the supervision of the patient by the doctor, notes by the nurse were inadequate, in some cases the time of the end of the restraint was absent, and in one case the name of the doctor deciding the restraint and the names of the persons participating in 49 Austerity of the rooms and absence of the storage space for keeping personal belongings at the providers of psychiatric care has also been pointed out by the CPT. See the CPT Report No CPT/Inf (2014) 1, para 112. The CPT has stressed also before that psychiatric hospitals should offer living conditions which are conducive to the treatment and welfare of patients. In psychiatric terms this is called a therapeutic environment. Therefore, particular attention should be given to the decoration of both patients' rooms and recreation areas. In the opinion of the CPT, the provision of bedside tables and wardrobes is highly desirable, and patients should be allowed to keep certain personal belongings (photographs, books, etc). The CPT also underlines the importance of providing patients with lockable space in which they can keep their belongings. The failure to provide such a facility can impinge upon a patient's sense of security and autonomy. See „The CPT Standards. Substantive sections of the CPT’s General Reports“, p 50. 50 The CPT has stressed that wearing hospital clothes is not conducive to strengthening personal identity and self-esteem of the patients, and individualisation of clothing should form part of the therapeutic process. Therefore, the CPT has made a recommendation to Estonia to take steps to ensure that patients are entitled to wear their own clothes (para 113). 51 The CPT has also underlined the importance of access to the open air, and made the relevant recommendation to Estonia. Ibid., para 114. 52 Tartu University Hospital, Wismari Hospital, Narva Hospital. 53 Tartu University Hospital. 54 Wismari Hospital. 35