8. HEALTHCARE

Medical Services

8.1 The majority of medical services were provided by the main prison, the normal procedure being that when prisoners reported sick, they were escorted to the Health Centre (though if the prisoner’s condition was such that he could not be moved, he would be seen in the NIC).

8.2 Prescriptions were issued on a daily or weekly basis as required, normally in the main prison. Medical records were also held in the Health Centre and prisoners had access to specialist services, such as the Dentist, from the same area.

Comment

8.3 Some prisoners said that the Health Centre staff attached less priority to NIC prisoners than to those from the main prison. Whilst we could find no specific evidence for this, we would not be surprised if this occasionally occurred. Priorities could be improved if there was to be NIC representation on the main Shotts Health Care Management Group.

Psychiatrist

8.4 Psychiatric support was exclusive to the NIC and was provided by a psychiatrist from the State Hospital, Carstairs. Originally this had involved two sessions per week but a lack of referrals had led to a reduction to one four hour session.

8.5 As a matter of routine, all prisoners were screened by the psychiatrist within the first 2-3 weeks of arrival; those who required more detailed examination were normally referred to him by Discipline or nursing staff.

8.6 The psychiatrist said that he was satisfied with the current level of service provision and with staff relationships. He also stated that he had encountered very few examples of self-harm, though there had been some minor cases of drug overdosing.

8.7 Since the NIC had opened, three prisoners had been referred to the State Hospital because of psychotic illness.