With respect to the demand to reduce occupancy, the Sigmund Freud
Regional Neurological and Psychiatric Hospital stated that the number
of patients in a room could be reduced, which would mean the loss of
at least four nursing positions. Until the completion of the structural
expansion, they are attempting to compensate for the deficit by
keeping two beds in the six-bed rooms free for patients whose
placement is interrupted. However, there is an obligation to offer these
patients a bed again, if necessary. Since the goal is to provide the
patients with “their own” bed again, the number of beds actually set
up cannot be reduced at the present time.
Bed must be kept free
The Federal Ministry of Justice regards this compromise with the
standard of the CPT to be acceptable considering the renovation
concept that is already in existence. It is true that the CPT did not
comment on the living conditions at the Sigmund Freud Hospital
during its last visit in February 2009. However, the CPT has repeatedly
recommended the creation of a therapeutic environment with single
rooms and small placement units (most recently after reviewing a
forensic psychiatry station at a Lisbon hospital in July 2012, CPT/Inf
[2013] 4).
The CPT also
recommends singlepatient rooms
In light of this, the NPM welcomes the efforts of the Federal Ministry of
Justice to encourage the competent legal entity to quickly expand the
forensic station at the Sigmund Freud Regional Neurological and
Psychiatric Hospital.
If six-person rooms cannot be separated structurally, setting up mobile partitions can
increase privacy.
2.5.6
Deficits with respect to restraints – forensic department of the Hall
Regional Hospital
In the course of a visit to the forensic department of the Hall Regional
Hospital, the commission found that a female patient had been
restrained for over 14 hours. Thereupon, the commission inspected the
nursing documentation. It was their conclusion that the documentation
did not show that the nursing staff was continuously present during
the restraint of the patient. This conclusion was supported by the fact
that the patient had wet the bed repeatedly during the period of
restraint and, according to her own statement, had to lie in the urinesoaked bed for about 30 minutes. The delegation also found that no
mitigating measures had been documented. In addition, there was no
documentation of a debriefing session with the patient.
Tied down and left
alone
The delegation then visited the isolation room with the restraint bed.
According to some commission members, this room had a
“frightening character” and triggered associations with photos of
Isolation room is
reminiscent of a “death
row cell”
107
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