Northern Ireland Prison Service Corporate Governance ... - cjini

epresented an organisational risk for
the Trust. The transfer of the staff was
agreed by Department of Health Social
Services and Public Safety at Chief
Medical Officer/Permanent Secretary
level not to take place.
2.59 The culture of prison officers and the
inability to transfer healthcare staff to
other areas of the Trust can lead to
medical staff becoming disconnected
from the Health Service and not having
the opportunity to avail of working in
other areas of the Trust, experience
good practice etc.
2.60 Other aspects of the regime impacted
on the ability of the Trust to provide
quality clinical care, for example:
• the prisons’ ability to access
alternative facilities for prisoners with
serious mental health issues can be at
odds with the medical needs of the
individual prisoner; 16
• the prevailing culture in the Northern
Ireland Prison Service was one of
security which can work against a
culture of care;
• the lost appointments for prisoners
and down time for medical
practitioners when appointments
were cancelled because movement
stopped in the prison due to alarm,
incident etc.; and
• the difficulties of movement/access
to prisoners in Maghaberry made it
difficult for the Trust to deliver
healthcare. This included internal
movement controls and availability of
prison officers to allow cell access if
the prisoner was locked up. This is a
particular difficulty in administering
medicines.
16 See also Criminal Justice Inspection report. Not a Marginal Issue; Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland.
Published March 2010
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