Although there have been warnings about the unacceptable conditions at the centre for several years now, the state has not yet reacted. At the same time social care homes are left to themselves to find solutions to accommodation problems when they have to follow court orders.

Such conditions have been dragging on since 2009, when the new Mental Health Act came into force. The conditions are only worsening and the lack of space in the patient wards is becoming an even bigger problem, warns the head of SVZ Hrastovec Andreja Raduha. The structure of the patients is such that the departments cannot be relieved of the burden. And so there are constantly around four or six patients too many, which have to sleep on deckchairs, temporary beds, without their own toilets or wardrobes, is how Raduha described the unbearable conditions at SVZ Hrastovec.

Despite being overcrowded, the centres have to accept new patients if a court orders that an individual must be admitted, says Petra Hameršak, a staff leader at Hrastovec.

As a result of having overcrowded patient wards, employees at the social care homes also warn of an increased number of incidents and problems in providing safety, for both patients and employees.