were acceptable. On the contrary, it was censurable the defective temperature control system (a project in this field being under evaluation), the ward low capacity and the absence of medical auxiliaries during the night and on the weekends. It was thus considered to liaise with the Directorate-General of Reinsertion and Prison Services with a view to obtain information on the follow-up given to the temperature system project. • Visit no. 11-2014 Date: 2014.11.07 Location: Magalhães Lemos Psychiatric Hospital, Porto Subject: Conditions of compulsory inpatient and compulsory outpatient. Use of coercive measures. Safeguard of privacy within accommodation. Existence and observation of medication protocols in doctor’s absence On November 7th a visit was carried out to Hospital Magalhães Lemos, in district of Porto, with the technical assistance of a psychiatrist expert appointed by the Portuguese Medical Association. The organisational aspects and practices in use were examined, with particular reference to those concerning patients subject to involuntary placement under the Mental Health Law(21), such as the restraining measures and the medication protocols in doctor´s absence. It was also verified the physical space destined to recently-admitted patients, in what concerns to the privacy conditions assured therein. The visitation started with a meeting with the Clinical Director, who provided information on the hospital characterisation and on the practices related to compulsory inpatients. In the first half of 2014, 15,6% of all hospitalisations were compulsory inpatients, a percentage that, as informed, has been an upward trend in the last few years. In this field, heed should be given to the commitment of the professionals in adopting solutions aimed at mitigating compulsory internment, whose nature seriously ablative of the citizens’ liberty they recognise. In particular, in what concerns the use of restraint measures upon patients posing safety hazards, it was found that the existing formal parameterization was insufficiently assimilated. This is an aspect that raises high potential danger of a patients’ rights violation, thus demanding further consolidation and standardisation in accordance with good clinical practices and directives issued, namely, by Directorate-General of Health (as, indeed, set forth in the internal protocol of the Institution). (21)  Law 36/98, of 24th July 1998, amended by Law 101/99, of 26th July 1999. 22 |