Visits in 2016 During its visit, the NPM addressed the police's efforts to meet the time limit for transferring detainees from the police custody facility to a prison within two days of their arrest. It was positive that the number of breaches of the time limit seemed to be decreasing. Long-term stays in the custody facility had been reduced because it was decided more often to release detainees. At the same time, it gave cause for concern that so many detainees still spent more than two days in the custody facility. There is therefore a need to intensify the work on preventing breaches of the time limit, especially in cases involving foreign nationals, where breaches occur more frequently. The police practice is that detainees are routinely escorted to the municipal accident and emergency department. It was positive that the police had a low threshold for contacting the health service. The challenge was that medical personnel were asked to confirm that the person in question could be placed in custody, and that, in practice, the doctors approved the stay by signing a form. This practice seems questionable from a medical ethics perspective, and it may undermine the relationship of trust between patients and medical personnel and reduce the quality of the health services provided. The role of health personnel is exclusively to treat the detainee as a patient. The custody log did not adequately document whether measures had been implemented to prevent torture and ill-treatment, such as information about rights on admission, the possibility of notifying next of kin and contacting a defence counsel. The custody log did not provide sufficient documentation of the police's efforts to prevent breaches of the time limit, of the carrying out of supervisory activities or individual assessments of the need for solitary confinement. 43 The inspection revealed that the cells in the custody facility were poorly suited to treating detainees humanely. The fact that some of the cells were very small and that they neither had access to daylight nor a clock gave particular cause for concern. Three of the cells that were inspected were between four and five square metres in size. Using such small cells for detention overnight appears to be an unfortunate practice. After the visit The police have changed a number of procedures at the police custody facility, and, among other things, have introduced better procedures for recording information in the custody log. The police have also introduced a new practice of two-step body searches where full removal of clothing is required. The Ombudsman has also noted the inclusion of a new point in the special instructions highlighting the importance of implementing measures to prevent the harmful effects of isolation.