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I agree whole heartedly with some of the observations of Dr Jamieson
and can speak from first hand experience about the healthcare or should I
say lack of it within HMP, albeit from the prospective of the much over
populated female estate.
Yes the job of being a prison doctor is not one that I would say is
for everyone, it's hard and yes many inmates are drug addicted and pull
fast ones to get legal prescriptions to alleviate the gnawing need for
their heroin or crack cocaine, or to get a sick note in order not to have
to work (common enough outside too I might add!) however not all prisoners
are addicts or skivers, yet we are treated as if we are. On the "out" as
it is colloqually known in prison, your GP doesn't have to physically
ascertain that you have been up all night vomiting, your word is taken as
the truth, whilst residing at Her Majesty's Pleasure you are and always
will be an inmate first and foremost clumped with the majority.
From my personal experience there is a complete lack of healthcare
for everyone, at HMP Drake Hall there is NO night cover, resulting in one
pregnant inmate being taken down to the block to miscarry, the block being
the segregation unit, the only place where there are officers constantly
in attendance. Losing a baby is bad enough without being subjected to
this type of dehumanising treatment. I personally telephoned Stafford
Hospital's maternity unit, using my own very valuable telephone units, in
an attempt to get some help, only to be told that unless a directive came
from the prison itself they could do nothing. This inmate was finally
transferred to HMP Foston Hall which has a hospital wing, it was some days
before the medical staff arranged a scan only to discover that the inmate
had been carrying twins and had only lost one. It is inconcievable that
this could happen anywhere other than prison.
So vast is the scale of mental health problems that accompany the
physical needs of women in prison, it would take a team of highly trained
and dedicated professionals to begin to come to grips with the lack of
healthcare. For women those problems are magnified simply because they
come into prison with all the emotional baggage, having often left their
children typically being the sole or primary carers. Not knowing where
they are, not seeing them on a regular basis, if at all given the
distances some mothers are placed away from their families only serves to
exacerbate matters.
Finally a warning, Hepatitis and HIV are rife in the female estate
and the majority of the women conduct sexual relationships with other
prisoners for all sorts of reasons, many are also prostitutes when not in
prison, all this goes on without ANY protection or education at all, how
long before the ticking bomb explodes into the wider population and
everyone pays the price?
Competing interests:
Ex inmate of three prisons with an ongoing investigation into healthcare for pregnant prsoners currently being conducted by HMP Women's Estate.
A marginilised patient
I agree whole heartedly with some of the observations of Dr Jamieson and can speak from first hand experience about the healthcare or should I say lack of it within HMP, albeit from the prospective of the much over populated female estate.
Yes the job of being a prison doctor is not one that I would say is for everyone, it's hard and yes many inmates are drug addicted and pull fast ones to get legal prescriptions to alleviate the gnawing need for their heroin or crack cocaine, or to get a sick note in order not to have to work (common enough outside too I might add!) however not all prisoners are addicts or skivers, yet we are treated as if we are. On the "out" as it is colloqually known in prison, your GP doesn't have to physically ascertain that you have been up all night vomiting, your word is taken as the truth, whilst residing at Her Majesty's Pleasure you are and always will be an inmate first and foremost clumped with the majority.
From my personal experience there is a complete lack of healthcare for everyone, at HMP Drake Hall there is NO night cover, resulting in one pregnant inmate being taken down to the block to miscarry, the block being the segregation unit, the only place where there are officers constantly in attendance. Losing a baby is bad enough without being subjected to this type of dehumanising treatment. I personally telephoned Stafford Hospital's maternity unit, using my own very valuable telephone units, in an attempt to get some help, only to be told that unless a directive came from the prison itself they could do nothing. This inmate was finally transferred to HMP Foston Hall which has a hospital wing, it was some days before the medical staff arranged a scan only to discover that the inmate had been carrying twins and had only lost one. It is inconcievable that this could happen anywhere other than prison.
So vast is the scale of mental health problems that accompany the physical needs of women in prison, it would take a team of highly trained and dedicated professionals to begin to come to grips with the lack of healthcare. For women those problems are magnified simply because they come into prison with all the emotional baggage, having often left their children typically being the sole or primary carers. Not knowing where they are, not seeing them on a regular basis, if at all given the distances some mothers are placed away from their families only serves to exacerbate matters.
Finally a warning, Hepatitis and HIV are rife in the female estate and the majority of the women conduct sexual relationships with other prisoners for all sorts of reasons, many are also prostitutes when not in prison, all this goes on without ANY protection or education at all, how long before the ticking bomb explodes into the wider population and everyone pays the price?
Competing interests: Ex inmate of three prisons with an ongoing investigation into healthcare for pregnant prsoners currently being conducted by HMP Women's Estate.
Competing interests: No competing interests