In prisons, At Risk units also housed very vulnerable people in what can only be described as austere and basic conditions, under constant observation through a CCTV system, all of which could potentially contribute to their distress. The individuals confined in these units were only offered a very basic regime with little or no access to educational or vocational training and limited access to recreational activities. Exercise yards were barren and small, and most units had either very limited communal space for congregated activities or, in the majority of places, no communal space at all. Outdoor areas in most of the places visited also tended to small and barren. In one mental health unit there was no equipment in the yard and patients were not provided with a ball or other ways to work out in the yard. The seclusion area in another mental health unit had a caged yard, and in another it was an outdoor small barren concrete space, covered with mesh. Yard walls in another mental health unit visited were covered with graffiti, some of which was quite offensive. The length of stay in the yard varied- there were no fixed minimum or maximum times in mental health facilities. One very long-term (six years) resident in a health and disability unit, could not access a yard daily as he was deemed to be too strong and unpredictable to mingle with others. “We try to give him weekly access but realistically he probably only gets it once a month” (Staff). This, of course, is unacceptable. In prisons, a number of yards were also covered in graffiti, and with few exceptions all were small and mostly barren. For example, at Christchurch men’s ARU, one ‘yard’ was an internal room with no equipment. The ‘yards’ adjacent to cells on the lower tier of Mount Eden’s Management Unit were essentially barren internal rooms which offered neither natural light nor fresh air.42 Access to basic fixtures and provisions was not always not guaranteed In all types of institutions visited, basic necessities were not always provided including, for example, access to drinking water, natural light and means of communicating with staff whilst isolated. No in-room drinking water Seclusion rooms/cells in several of the facilities visited did not have access to drinking water. Rooms in the Secure Care Unit in the children’s care and protection residence had a basin, but we were told that the water was not suitable for drinking. ‘Round cells’ at Auckland Men’s and Rimutaka prisons also had no running drinking water. Instead, prisoners were provided with 42 44 It should be noted that we were told by staff that prisoners from the lower tier could access exercise yards in the upper tier during their allotted exercise period.