BMJ 1996;312:1228 (11 May)

Letters

Is a breach of human rights

EDITOR,--Luisa Dillner's proposed scheme for managing prisoners in hospital1 can work well, at any rate for outpatients, given a clear policy by clinicians and enlightened prison staff. Before my retirement in 1993 from Ashford Hospital, Middlesex, I regularly saw detainees from the nearby Feltham Youth Custody Centre. After an episode when warders insisted on sitting in on both history and physical examination of a patient, I wrote to the principal medical officer, copied to the governor, that (as implied by the subtitle of the editorial: "contravenes international law") this was a breach of human rights and I would see referrals only if they were permitted exactly the same degree of confidentiality that the custodians themselves would expect. As Dillner also notes, I accepted that exceptions might have to be made if there was thought to be a significant risk of escape (possible only by jumping through a doubleglazed window) or . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

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

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