opcat inspections 2011–2014
for a patient to be given – voluntarily or forcibly – ECT treatment outside of
the county council’s care facilities.37 Below is a summary of the observations
made during one inspection.
Observations during the inspection of a compulsory
psychiatric care facility
The care environment’s significance to patients38
Patients in compulsory psychiatric care are in a vulnerable situation. The care
environment is of particular significance as the patients, in practice, live at the
care facility, and the care environment becomes part of their living environment. It is vital that attention is paid to the care environment when planning
the provision of such services.
During an inspection of the psychiatric department at Visby Hospital, it was
found that there were limited opportunities for offering patients who are
receiving care pursuant to the LPT something to occupy themselves with.
Furthermore, the opportunities for physical exercise were poor and there
was, in practice, no opportunity to obtain occupational therapy since this is
granted only after a referral is processed. It also emerged that the processing
of referrals almost always took so long that the compulsory care of the individual had ceased before the decision on occupational therapy had been made.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman found the system in place at the department
in question to be unsatisfactory and emphasised that it was vital that Region
Gotland make it possible for the clinic to offer patients a real opportunity to
occupy themselves. The Parliamentary Ombudsman also gave a reminder that
the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), following its
visit to Sweden in 2009, had stressed the importance of care containing both
therapy and exercise as well as other forms of occupation.39
Migration Agency detention units
General background
The Swedish Migration Agency has five detention units: Åstorp, Märsta, Kållered, Flen and Gävle. A case in which an alien has been detained is processed
either by the Swedish Migration Agency or the Police Authority. Until 2009,
the Parliamentary Ombudsmen had not inspected the Migration Agency’s
detention units. In one year (2010), visits were made to all detention units
as part of a special project that was reported on in a decision in May 2011.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s decision criticised the Migration Agency
for shortcomings that included having placed of detainees who pose only a
danger to themselves on remand without legal support and having incorrectly
37 Ref. no. 1491-2013, ref. no. 3953-2013
38 Ref. no. 2756-2013
39 CPT Standards, Extract from the 12th General Report, p. 34
35
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