BNA: Review ‘broken’ prison-Psychiatric Hospital transfer

Nurses are not trained as prison wardens or law enforcement officers, the head of the Barbados Nurses’ Association (BNA) has declared as she called for a review of the “broken system” of prisoner transfer at the Psychiatric Hospital.

BNA President Dr Fay Parris was responding to news reports that Jamal Amal Skeete, who had been sent to the Psychiatric Hospital for assessment before sentencing for theft, walked out of the court while in the care of a male nurse.

She said the nurse, who was chided in court over the incident, was traumatised over being held responsible for the prisoner’s handling.

Insisting that the nurse could not be held accountable as the prisoner was at court where trained law enforcement personnel were present, the BNA chief said the prisoner’s custody was the court’s responsibility and called for the prisoner-handling system to be fixed.

In a statement to the media, Dr Parris said: “The association highlights the psychological trauma and professional embarrassment the nurse experienced when placed on the witness stand to be held responsible for a broken system – of the nurse alone accompanying a prisoner to court – of which he was a victim. The association strongly recommends a reform of the present system.”

The BNA head said while the Mental Health Act, the Prisoners’ Act and the Magistrates’ Court Act all govern how law enforcement officers should handle the remanding of individuals to the Psychiatric Hospital for assessment, no guidance is given to the safety and responsibility of the nurse.

Calling this “unsafe” for the nurses and the public, Dr Parris noted that a lone nurse is vulnerable to “the whims of a potentially unstable client who can become combative while not restrained by handcuffs and travelling as a civilian”.

“When these same individuals are taken to Psychiatric Hospital, there is usually a team of two or more police, and the individual is also handcuffed. Yet the lone nurse is expected to accompany the individual to court without using restraints. These travel arrangements are also unlike other prisoners who go to court restrained with handcuffs and accompanied by trained prison officers and sounding loud sirens,” she said.

In addition, Dr Parris stated that the association could find no legal framework guiding the nurse on how to accompany the individual back to court or as to what system was in place to protect them in cases of violence.

Dr Parris stressed that there must be a review of the system, recommending that officers be present at the hospital when prisoners are remanded, that two nurses accompany the patient back to court, and that those who are dangerous should be sent in the company of law enforcement officers when travelling to and from the court.

“In the association’s view, law enforcement officers are responsible for ensuring the safety of the nurse and the public while in transit and court. The nurse’s role is to accompany the patient, provide psychiatric support to the client should such a need emerge and report to the court about the client’s mental progress or state. The nurse should not be placed in undue danger or in an embarrassing position for failure to carry out an action that is not part of his role or responsibilities,” she added.

The BNA head appealed for collaboration with the hospital’s management, health ministry officials and law enforcement authorities to examine the Mental Health Act, Magistrates Court Act, and the relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions to address the health and safety risks to nurses travelling alone with a patient to court.

Parris also said that the association was in solidarity with psychiatric nurses who continue to ask for hazard and accident or health insurance for extraordinary tasks.