The role of the prison doctor
The role of the prison doctor
To ensure that at the point of reception into custody, a standard health care questionnaire is completed on every prisoner by a nurse or a doctor.
To ensure that all health care staff are trained to undertake a preliminary mental health assessment and a suicide assessment
To ensure that every prisoner is seen by a doctor within 24 hours, or within 48 hours at the very latest
To ensure that a specialist psychiatric service is available at the prison
To argue strongly for any severely mentally ill prisoner (one who is psychotic) to be moved to a community psychiatric hospital
To resist giving medication by force to a mentally ill person except in an emergency.
To refuse to allow electroconvulsive therapy to be administered in the prison setting. This should only take place in a psychiatric hospital
To use the prison hospital facility as a sanctuary for the location of mentally ill prisoners as appropriate
To organize a prison hospital regime to ensure the patients including the mentally ill patients, are not kept in seclusion, but are provided with mental and social stimulation
To ensure that in the case of mentally vulnerable prisoners, physical restraints are only used if authorized by a doctor, as a last resort, and for the shortest time possible. They should be reviewed at frequent intervals throughout the day and night.
To arrange regular consultations with any inmates who have been diagnosed as mentally vulnerable
To ensure a suicide prevention strategy is in place and that all staff throughout the prison are committed to its implementation