Moldovan MPs take note of report on fire at Mental Hospital in last autumn

Chisinau, 5 April /MOLDPRES/ - The parliamentary commission for social protection, health and family today heard a special report of the Ombudsman on the monitoring of the observance of the rights of the patients placed in treatment through coercion with medical character. The document analyzes the situation as regards an incident which took place at the Clinical Mental Hospital from the Codru town (Chisinau municipality) on 27 October 2022.

The working group from the Office of the Ombudsman has made more verifications on the spot and following findings, recommendations were issued for state’s institutions, including law-enforcement bodies. Thus, the Health Ministry is recommended to work out and implement minimal standards of quality of the medical services and of the conditions of hospitalization according to the international norms, with the observance of human rights in the providing of services to patients who are in treatment by coercion; training the staff as to the identification and reporting of cases of ill treatments, violence, wounds; elaboration of a regulation on the non-acceptance of introducing banned objects.      

The main recommendations for the Clinical Mental Hospital from the Codru town deal with the working out of a mechanism of ensuring the security of the service of treatment by coercion, both for the protection of patients and for the staff employed; elaboration of the operational procedures as to the management of violent patients; improving the mechanism of supervision and ensuring the security of patients; ensuring the individualized treatment of patients with behavioral disorder; ensuring the patient’s access to lawyer and his/her presence in court, with the possibility of defence and setting forth the personal wish.  

At the same time, the Ombudsman recommends that the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) ensures an efficient system of investigation and monitoring, in order to prevent any form of unhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against people with disabilities from institutions, as well as to ensure the prompt investigation of such cases.  

The head of the parliament’s commission for social protection, health and family, Damn Perciun, proposed the creation of an inter-departmental working group, in order to elaborate an action plan, due to transpose actions as to the assessment, standardization and development of the service of treatment by coercion in severe conditions. The term of working out the action plan, based on which the measures needed to be implemented will be counted, is 10 May 2023, when the next meeting on the concerned subject will be held.  

On 27 October 2022 in the morning, firemen intervened to liquidate a fire which broke out at the Clinical Mental Hospital from the Codru settlement. No victims were reported in the wake of the fire and subsequently, decision-makers established that the fire had been triggered by a patient hospitalized following the committing of more serious offences.   

Photo: Parliament