received from the Ministry revealed that the issue of searching the female prisoners was reviewed and from 1 September 2015, during the full personal searches, the statute will determine the question of inviting a doctor specialist in case of need. It can be noted that the Public Defender’s recommendation was not fulfilled. It is significant that the full search and aggressive (invasive) bodily examination should be substituted by the alternative searching methods, like scanning, in order to avoid the possible harmful psychological and physical impact.211 Positively should be assessed the decreased practice of using the placement in the solitary confinement cell as a disciplinary sanction, however, the cases of transferring the inmates to the cell type dwellings have been increased.212 From January to December 2015, 67 inmates were subjected to the disciplinary sanctions, 1 prisoner was placed in the solitary confinement cell, inmates were transferred to the cell type dwelling in 14 cases, in 2 cases – the contact with the outside world was restricted (restriction of the short term visit – in 1 case, restriction of the telephone conversation – in 1 case). In other cases a reprimand and a warning was used. During the reporting period, from the establishment N5, 219 prisoners were transferred to the different medical establishments. Out of them, 37 inmates were referred to the medical establishments N18 and N19 and 182 inmates – to the public sector hospitals. The Medical Unit of the establishment N5 houses a doctors’ office, also the cabinets of surgery, gynecology, a dentist’s, a room for manipulations and intensive observation. Also, the medical staff are qualified to take samples for TB and HIV/AIDS tests. In the health care sphere the issue of receiving the timely medical service still remains to be a problem. The question of conducting a planned surgical treatment of the female inmates should be taken into consideration. Like the male prisoners, the female inmates are registered in the unified electronic database of the medical department of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia. There are a number of cases when the patients have to wait for the surgical treatments for months, which causes the deterioration of the health conditions. It should be noted that if the patient has a menstrual cycle during her turn of treatment, she is not taken to the surgery and has to re-register. It is necessary to establish a separate referral line for the female accused/convicts. According to Rule 6 para ‘c’ of the Bangkok Rules, the health screening of women prisoners shall include comprehensive screening to determine primary health care needs, and also shall determine: the reproductive health history of the woman prisoner, including current or recent pregnancies, childbirth and any related reproductive health issues. 211 The UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), Rule 20. 212 In 2014, in the facility N5, 3 inmates were placed in the solitary confinement cell and 8 – in the cell type dwellings. 136 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2015