Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2017 Provision of healthcare to persons with severe forms of disability One representative of the Office of the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities took part in the visits to the Glina State Prison and Bjelovar County prison. Her role was to evaluate the provision of healthcare to prisoners with severe forms of disabilities who were wheelchair or prosthesis users (tetraplegia, spine injuries, amputation of extremities). In the Glina State Prison they did not complain about the provision of healthcare they needed given their situation or availability or orthopaedic aids. A paid assistant (another prisoner) was at their disposal to assist them when walking or carrying out different tasks (e.g. tidying up their room, pushing the wheelchair). According to the opinion of the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities, the right to provision of healthcare for persons with disabilities through physical therapy and medical rehabilitation has not been violated. In addition, orthopaedic and other aids were available to them according to their needs, as well as other medical services. The Bjelovar County Prison did not accommodate prisoners with severe forms of physical disabilities or those that used orthopaedic and other aids since these persons were referred to the Glina State Prison that was accessible to this group of prisoners. During our visits, we did not record prisoners with mild forms of physical or other disabilities. In terms of rights to physical therapy (PT) and medical rehabilitation, officials were familiar with the obligation to ensure the same level of healthcare for prisoners with disabilities that they would have enjoyed at liberty. 1.1.3. Assessment of the situation in the prison system Systematic problems that we have warned against in our earlier reports still persisted in 2017. The Zagreb Prison Hospital and the so-called infirmaries, i.e. prisoners’ healthcare wards, which are established in each penal institution, are still not organized in accordance with the Healthcare Act. Although the Ministry of Health did not deliver the required data, according to our information, the premises within the penal institutions designated for the provision of healthcare still do not meet the Ordinance on Minimum Standards of Space, Workers and Medical Equipment for Providing Healthcare to Persons Deprived of Their Liberty. Also, despite the expiry of the deadline set by the Decision of the Constitutional Court U-III/64744/2009 of 2010 on the establishment of efficient supervision of quality of healthcare in the entire prison system, it has not been implemented yet. Such a practice is unacceptable. In accordance with the new internal structure of the Ministry of Justice, the prison hospital shall be equipped with only two (instead of the previously established five, in accordance with the Ordinance on Minimum Standards of Space) wards for treatment of prisoners, namely, the healthcare ward and the forensic psychiatry ward. The current situation in the prison hospital is alarming due to the number of specialists that have left. More precisely, the lack of psychiatrists is most severely felt, since out of eight previously employed, only one has remained. The prison hospital has concluded a temporary service contract with another external specialist. Since, apart from treatment of ill prisoners and prisoners on remand on account of a mental disorder, the prison hospital also has a role in implementation of a security measure of 18