Monitoring visits to institutions etc. for adults in 2024

The table immediately below first shows the number of monitoring visits which we carried out to institutions etc. for adults in 2024. This is followed by the numbers of talks we had with inmates, residents, patients etc. and with relatives etc. (relatives, guardians, social guardians of persons under a residential care order and patient advisers) in connection with the visits. Under the OPCAT[1], the Ombudsman cooperates with DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (IMR), which participate in monitoring visits, among other things. Therefore, the table also shows the numbers of visits in which DIGNITY and IMR participated. In addition, it shows the numbers of announced and unannounced visits and how many visits were concluded with and without recommendations, respectively.

Below the table is a list of the monitoring visits which we carried out in 2024. Click the individual visit for information about the type of institution etc. visited and any special focus of the visit, whether the visit was announced or unannounced, how many talks we had with inmates, residents, patients etc. and with relatives etc., and whether DIGNITY and/or IMR participated in the visit. This information is followed by a list of any recommendations given to the institution. If the visit caused the Ombudsman to open one or more cases on his own initiative at the same time, this is also stated.

[1] OHCHR | Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT)

 
NUMBER OF VISITS 29
TALKS WITH INMATES, RESIDENTS, PATIENTS ETC.  199
TALKS WITH RELATIVES ETC. 18
WITH PARTICIPATION OF DIGNITY 22
WITH PARTICIPATION OF IMR 9
ANNOUNCED/UNANNOUNCED VISITS 21/8
CONCLUDED WITH RECOMMENDATIONS 21
CONCLUDED WITHOUT RECOMMENDATIONS 8

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 8 users

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management look into the possibilities for offering additional education to the inmates
  • That management, based on the foreman’s and the inmates’ information about the difficulties in meeting the quota, consider, with possible involvement of the Area Office, if there are grounds for looking into whether the quota has been set correctly
  • That management ensure that both inmates and staff know that it is fully acceptable for inmates to make cell calls in order to go to the toilet, also at night, and that urine bottles are not handed out unless requested

 

Association units and one special secure unit

Announced visit

Talks with 23 users

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that the visiting rooms are made more inviting and comfortable, including being in accordance with the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management ensure that, during visits to Unit E, activities between incarcerated parents and children of all ages are possible; cf. the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management ensure ongoing attention to inmates that only have little contact with the surrounding world
  • That management draw up a policy for prevention of violence and threats among the inmates
  • That management ensure that the house rules are brought in accordance with the applicable rules
  • That management, in the way it deems relevant, ensure that healthcare staff are informed when an inmate is placed in solitary confinement

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 9 inmates

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that the visiting room is made more inviting and comfortable, including being in accordance with the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management ensure that, during visits, activities between incarcerated parents and children of all ages are possible; cf. the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing sufficient shopwork
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing cell work and to the nature of this work
  • That management ensure that foreign nationals’ access to education is administered in accordance with the relevant rules
  • That management ensure that the house rules are brought in accordance with the applicable rules
  • That management ensure that the inmates can be informed of the prices of the grocer’s goods when ordering 

 

Care centre for people with dementia

Announced visit

Talks with 1 user and 2 relatives etc.

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That guidelines on use of force or coercion be drawn up – and knowledge thereof among staff be ensured – concerning, among other things
    • what interventions must be recorded and reported
    • what information the report must contain in order to ensure precise and sufficient documentation
    • notification of relatives
  • That management ensure that systematic recording of violence and threats among residents takes place in order to ensure documentation, knowledge and learning
  • That management draw up a policy on violence and threats among residents, which takes into account
    • prevention
    • handling of injured parties, offenders and any affected co-residents in connection with the individual episode
    • follow-up with the mentioned persons and their next-of-kin

 

Care centre for people with dementia

Announced visit

Talks with 4 relatives etc.

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that no interventions are made in the residents’ right to self-determination without authority
  • That management ensure that systematic recording of violence and threats among residents takes place in order to ensure documentation, knowledge and learning
  • That management draw up a policy on violence and threats among residents, which takes into account
    • prevention
    • handling of injured parties, offenders and any affected co-residents in connection with the individual episode
    • follow-up with the mentioned persons and their next-of-kin
  • That management ensure compliance with the rules on informed consent to minor treatments of patients permanently unable to give informed consent 

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 5 users

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing cell work and to the nature of this work
  • That management ensure that foreign nationals’ access to education is administered in accordance with the relevant rules 

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 7 inmates

IMR and DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management avoid accommodation in the multipurpose room to the extent possible
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing sufficient shopwork
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing cell work and to the nature of this work
  • That management ensure that foreign nationals’ access to education is administered in accordance with the relevant rules 

An ordinary association unit, the education unit in the open part of the prison and the adult units in the closed part of the prison

Announced visit

Talks with 25 inmates

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendation:

  • That management ensure ongoing attention to inmates in the open units who only have little contact with the surrounding world, and as far as possible contribute to an increase of the inmates’ contact with the surrounding world, for example via the offer of a volunteer visitor

 

Closed prison

Announced visit

Talks with 18 users

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that visiting rooms where visits with children are held are inviting and comfortable and allow for activities between incarcerated parents and children of all ages, including being in accordance with the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management ensure that the prison’s guidelines and practice in cases concerning children’s overnight visits with inmates serving a sentence for sexual crimes against minors are in accordance with the Executive Order on Visits
  • That management ensure that the criteria for getting occupation at the ‘factory’ are objective in relation to the safety conditions
  • That management ensure that uniformed staff are aware that request forms can be submitted to healthcare staff without stating grounds
  • That management in cooperation with the Prison and Probation Service, West, Health, ensure that healthcare examinations, including screenings, performed in the prison are in accordance with normal practice and do not depend on any self-payment by the inmate during hospital treatment

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 6 inmates

The visit did not give cause for recommendations. 

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 7 inmates

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendation:

  • That management ensure that the house rules are translated into relevant languages 

 

Detention facility

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Detention facility

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Detention facility

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Detention facility

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Detention facility

Announced visit

Recommendation:

  • That the North Jutland Police ensure that the calling system in the detention facility is fixed

 

Detention facility

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Holding cells

Unannounced visit

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 5 inmates

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that the visiting room is made more inviting and comfortable, including being in accordance with the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management ensure that, during visits from children, activities between incarcerated parents and children of all ages are possible; cf. the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing sufficient shopwork
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing cell work and to the nature of this work

 

Local prison

Unannounced visit

Talks with 7 users

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure the right of people serving a sentence to at least one weekly visit
  • That management consider changing the visiting times so that there are more available at times when it is possible to have visits from children attending school
  • That management ensure that the visiting rooms in the Special Secure Unit are made more inviting and comfortable, including being in accordance with the Department of Prisons and Probation’s standard for visiting rooms
  • That management organise the visit booking system in a way that ensures
    • that the distribution of visits takes place according to objective and relevant criteria
    • a reasonable waiting time for the relatives in the event of a telephone queue
  • That management ensure that inmates in Western Prison are offered occupation in accordance with the Executive Order on Occupation
  • That management ensure better information to the inmates on the occupation opportunities
  • That management ensure that cell calls are answered as quickly as possible and within reasonable time, and that both inmates and staff know that it is fully acceptable for inmates to make cell calls in order to go to the toilet

 

Prison with open and closed unit and remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 39 inmates

DIGNITY and IMR participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management continue to take into account inmates’ needs due to any reduced functional capacity
  • That management continue to pay attention to the handling of mentally vulnerable inmates, including that management ensure that staff are aware of what to keep an eye on and how to handle this type of inmates
  • That management pay attention to the inmates’ condition in relation to whether it is appropriate to place them in a double cell
  • That management focus on ensuring that all inmates can feel safe in the prison, including inmates who are convicted of sexual crimes
  • That management address the fact that inmates with children who are to serve in an open prison cannot be received in the prison’s open unit under the current circumstances
  • That management ensure that inmates with children in the remand unit in accordance with the prison’s guidelines are offered more frequent yard time or extended yard time and possibly an open cell door
  • That management ensure that the possibility of extended visits from closely related children is considered in all of the prison’s units
  • That management ensure that the house rules are brought in accordance with the applicable rules
  • That management ensure that the house rules are translated into relevant languages
  • That management ensure that a national newspaper is made available for free to the inmates in all units of the prison
  • That management ensure increased focus on correct medicine dispensation
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing more occupation options in the closed unit
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing cell work to the remand unit
  • That management consider if it is possible to improve the communal facilities in the remand unit, including the possibilities of exercising
  • That management ensure that the inmates can be informed of the current prices of the grocer’s goods when ordering
  • That management on an ongoing basis pay attention to ensuring a healthy indoor climate in the remand unit

 

Accommodation facility

Announced visit

Talks with 3 users and 4 relatives etc.

DIGNITY participated.

The visit did not give cause for recommendations.

 

Accommodation facility

Announced visit

Talk with 1 relative etc.

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendation:

  • That management ensure that the accommodation facility keeps statistics of the occurrence of use of force, and that the statistics are analysed on an ongoing basis in order to find causes and patterns

 

Remand unit

Announced visit

Talks with 7 users

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations: 

  • That management ensure that the house rules are brought in accordance with the applicable rules, and that inmates are informed of the complaint options to the relevant extent
  • That management ensure that the inmates can be informed of the current prices of the grocer’s goods when ordering.

 

Remand unit

Unannounced visit

Talks with 9 inmates

Recommendations:

  • That management continue to focus on possible measures that can improve the staffing situation in the local prison
  • That management continue – to the extent that double cells are used – to focus on ensuring a suitable composition of inmates in the cells
  • That management ensure that staff – to the extent that double cells are used – know what they have to watch for in order to prevent conflicts or possible abuse among inmates in the cells, and how to follow up on suspicion of such matters, including that management consider any need for written guidelines to the staff about this
  • That management ensure that discretion is possible when inmates submit request forms
  • That management ensure that a doctor is immediately asked to monitor when an inmate in a security cell is forcibly immobilised or if a 15-17-year-old inmate as an exception is placed in a security cell, that the institution’s action card is formulated in accordance with this, and that information on the doctor being called and the medical monitoring appears from the report on the placement
  • That management continue on an ongoing basis to pay attention to providing sufficient cell work and shopwork, including if inmates have no access to workshops and communal areas due to the conditions in the remand unit
  • That management ensure that inmates who have gone through motivational and pre-treatment for substance abuse are offered primary treatment

 

Special centre for adult asylum seekers and foreign nationals without legal residence and with mental and/or physical disabilities

Announced visit

Talks with 7 users

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure that it is clear what rules apply to the individual residents’ stay at the centre and that this is communicated to the staff
  • That management ensure that the house rules are brought in accordance with the applicable rules

 

Accommodation facility

Announced visit

Talks with 6 users and 5 relatives etc.

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management revise the house rules to be in accordance with Section 123 of the Social Services Act
  • That management comply with the rules in Chapter 24 c of the Social Services Act when visiting restrictions are laid down at the accommodation facility, and that management revise the house rules so that they are in compliance with the rules of the Act
  • That management ensure that any area restrictions are made with the resident’s voluntary participation
  • That management ensure greater focus on correct recording of violence, abuse and threatened violence in order to obtain knowledge and learning
  • That management establish coherence between the wording of the house rules and the safety instructions in such a way that it is adequate for the facility’s practice

 

Accommodation facility

Announced visit

Talks with 3 users

DIGNITY participated.

Recommendation:

  • That management ensure that complaint guidance is given to the resident and/or to relatives after use of force

 

Psychiatric hospital, bed units

Announced visit

Talks with 11 patients and 1 patient advisor

IMR and DIGNITY participated.

Recommendations:

  • That management ensure increased focus on precise and sufficient documentation in the record on forced immobilisation, including that the permanent guard notes each time of observation
  • That management ensure continued focus on follow-up interviews being held as soon as possible after cessation of a forcible measure, and on it being noted in the record if a patient does not want a follow-up interview as well as the grounds for this
  • That the house rules be adjusted so that it does not appear from them that patients’ activities can be limited to their own room without the patient’s consent if the staff’s instructions on dressing and hygiene are not observed
  • That search of a patient on arrival solely take place in accordance with a valid consent from the patient or on suspicion of medicines, drugs or dangerous objects in the department