The NPM spoke to the women and explained the remit of the NPM/Ombudsman. Detainees translated for each other. The NPM had received an allegation about the guards in the women’s section, and wanted to ask detainees about their treatment. One woman, spoken to out of the earshot of the police, said that she wanted to talk to her family but that she was not allowed to. Another woman said her treatment in the centre was ‘so so’ and another said that she did not believe that a place like the centre could exist. At this point, a guard started to walk towards the NPM and detainees, and this line of conversation stopped. Women said the cells were infested with cockroaches and other insects. They complained that it was cold and that there were not enough blankets. They also said there was shortage of toilet paper. Healthcare The healthcare area was new and had been opened since our 2016 visit. We spoke to a doctor before we went to any wings. He said that medical professionals with different specialisms visited each day. Healthcare was previously offered for 24 hours a day, but they had changed rosters so that more staff were available in the morning. A doctor was present at the centre until 14.00 while the nurses were available until 22.00. The healthcare staff had two interpreters who could speak Arabic and Farsi. They used detainees for other languages and said telephone interpretation was sometimes used. The doctors said that they were trying to create electronic health files for detainees. If detainees were moved around detention centres in the Attica region of Greece,[44] their health files would travel with them, but this was not the case for other jurisdictions. The doctor said there was not enough medication. He was concerned about contagious skin diseases exacerbated by overcrowding. He said that people coming from prison tended to have more mental health and drug issues. They did not expect to come to a detention centre. The doctor said that detainees made a lot of complaints about the food, and that he understood them because lack of money for electricity meant that food was not always stored properly. NPM Practice The chaotic nature of the institution made it difficult to undertake effective monitoring. Matters were compounded by the lack of interpreters in the NPM team and the brevity of their visit. The NPM team took the names of the detainees who spoke to them and in some cases passed detainees’ concerns to the managers. However, the frantic atmosphere and the lack of a structured system for their visit, meant they were able to speak only to those detainees who were closest and loudest. They did not see occupied cells on the men’s wing. As at the airport facility, there was no privacy and most discussions were about the length of detention and about people’s asylum cases. While NPM staff were able to communicate with some detainees in English, the lack of interpreters once again meant that they could not communicate effectively with many people or ask them to describe their experiences in any meaningful way. The NPM had a questionnaire that they could use, with questions about procedures and standards. Possible ill treatment was only explored in the women’s section of Petrou Ralli, where they had already received specific intelligence from complaints. [44] Attica Region is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire metropolitan area of Athens, the country's capital and largest city. 28