- 56 5. Prison staff 118. The CPT has stressed in the past that an inadequate staff/prisoner ratio not only renders the provision of an acceptable regime well-nigh impossible, but also generates an insecure environment for both staff and prisoners. In addition to creating a potentially dangerous situation for vulnerable prisoners, it also poses dangers for staff, whose position can be compromised by their inability to exert proper control over - and develop a constructive dialogue with - prisoners. The chronic understaffing found in all the prisons visited in 2009 represents a further deterioration in the situation observed in 2005. 119. A brief survey of the situation of staff with direct supervisory responsibilities in the prisons visited illustrates the problem clearly. At Amfissa Prison, five prison officers were on duty during the day (including the Chief Guard) and two at night; during the day, two were posted at the gate to check persons coming in and out of the prison and the other three stayed in the visits/reception area. No prison officers were present in the main part of the prison where more than 200 prisoners were accommodated, milling around on the stairs and in the courtyards. Prisoners would make requests and speak to prison officers through a hatch in the reinforced metal door which separated the reception area from the main prison. Prison officers had no idea what was going on in the dormitories or communal areas and appeared only to enter the accommodation areas to count the prisoners. At Chios Prison, a similar scenario existed with either four or five prison officers on duty during the day and three at night. At Malandrino Prison, the purpose built high security prison, for each set of five units (each accommodating 220 prisoners ) there were only three prison officers on duty. Each prison officer was posted in the main corridor outside the locked gate entrance of a unit; two units had no prison officer posted outside and the three officers on duty were out of sight and hearing of these units. Inmates claimed that even during a recent emergency of an attempted suicide, staff did not come to the unit for 40 minutes despite their continued shouting. In all, throughout the establishment there were only 14 prison officers on duty during the day for 444 “high-security” prisoners. At Korydallos Men’s Prison, the situation remains unchanged from 2005 and 2007, with three prison officers being responsible for a wing of some 400 prisoners. Prison officers remained at the gate and did not actually enter the wings except when additional staff arrived to oversee the midday head count. At Patras Prison, a comparable situation prevailed with two, sometimes three, prison officers being responsible for a wing of some 200 or more prisoners. The officers were located in an office between the door to the main corridor and the gate to the wing, and communication with prisoners occurred through the bars. For a prison of over 700 inmates the daily staff complement consisted of only 18 prison officers.