Ministers of Health and Justice open the first detention centre in Slovakia
Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský and Minister of Justice Viliam Karas opened the first detention centre in Slovakia. The facility is an answer to a long-standing problem of Slovak justice and health care – how to humanely and safely treat mentally ill patients who are dangerous to their surroundings. The detention institute was established in the village of Hronovce in the Levice district and has a capacity of 75 patients.
Experts agree that in the case of mentally ill patients with risky behaviour, it is necessary to take into account the medical approach and create a suitable environment for their treatment. „It is not enough to isolate them from society. Therefore, the detention centre will be a unique medical facility, as it will provide dignified care to those patients who suffer from mental illnesses, due to which they pose a risk to society,“ said Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský.
If inpatient health care could not be provided in the detention centre, it would make the curative nature of the facility impossible and would only go towards isolating people with mental disorders. Defining the provision of inpatient health care for persons placed in detention is a prerequisite for the regular administration of medication, the continuous provision of other medical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (electroconvulsive therapy, phalloplegia, psychiatric nursing care) and adequate medical record keeping.
The detention centre in Hronovce will employ medical and non-medical staff, as well as members of the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps. The staff will be recruited gradually according to the need to cover the services provided in the institution. The total investment and project costs were estimated at approximately EUR 23 million, the cost of equipment for the institute was EUR 1.17 million.
„I am very happy that we could open the Detention Institute in Hronovce today. We are paying off the debt we had to our international obligations and our society. With this step we are moving into the 21st century. The Detention Institute is a facility with the highest level of security, also for criminals who have a mental illness and are dangerous to themselves and society,“ explained Justice Minister Viliam Karas. The prognosis of the illness is therefore decisive. Offenders who are not expected to be completely cured will be transferred to this type of facility.
The Ministry of Health, in close cooperation with the professional public, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps, also had to create new legislation. The legislation comprehensively determines the scope and conditions for the provision of health care to persons in detention under a special treatment regime, which will be provided by a detention centre or a juvenile detention centre.
In connection with the establishment of the detention centre, the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic has carried out, or is carrying out, all the necessary acts that are essential for the operation of this facility. It was necessary to commission the premises, to authorise the provision of health care in the institute and to provide staff for the institute. Under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, a second detention facility will be built at the Psychiatric Hospital in Kremnica. The two detention facilities should cover the needs of such patients for the time being.
Source : FB MZSR
