BMJ 1996;312:1228 (11 May)

Letters

Shackling prisoners in hospital

Is unnecessary and avoidable

EDITOR,--Luisa Dillner's editorial and Beverley Beech's personal view, giving an account of the effects of shackling a pregnant woman from Holloway Prison, sickened me.

From 1962 to 1982 I was by the invitation of a succession of senior medical officers and governors of Holloway Prison the consultant to the prison for gynaecology and obstetrics.

During those 20 years about 800 women prisoners were delivered in the City of London Maternity Hospital and later the Whittington Hospital, in beds for which I had clinical responsibility. We lost only one baby--a remarkable perinatal mortality considering that the mothers were so disadvantaged. Much valuable research work was carried out on the gynaecological cases, particularly on cancer and precancerous conditions.

Special attention was paid to avoiding prisoners on remand escaping--because the judiciary would rightly object if the prisoner was not available for trial at the correct time. Shackling was never . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Shackling prisoners in hospital
Luisa Dillner
BMJ 1996 312: 200. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Finlay, I. G, Sastry, B S D., Thomas, G. A O, Pearce, S. J, Nathanson, V. (1997). Treating shackled patients. BMJ 314: 306-306 [Full text]  
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