BPS expanded medical services must guarantee prisoners’ health – attorney

As the Barbados Prison Service (BPS) seeks to expand its in-house medical services to reduce security risks, a senior defence attorney is stressing that the government must ensure healthcare is delivered to prisoners in a manner consistent with a civilised society.

Following last year’s escape of an inmate from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was receiving treatment, the BPS tightened its security controls and restricted prisoner movement outside of the St Philip penal institution due to the increased risks.

Prison Superintendent DeCarlo Payne outlined that several medical assessments and procedures, particularly those that required inmates to attend hospital departments where restraints had to be removed, are now being conducted at the prison.

Suggesting that there was nothing wrong with the move, King’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, however, stressed the need to guarantee proper healthcare for inmates regardless of where it was delivered.

“In terms of the arrangements for the prisoners, I think we have to remember that the Government of Barbados, through the prison service, is responsible for ensuring that prisoners are safe and that their health is looked after,” he told Barbados TODAY, noting “that is their responsibility.”

“If they do that at the prison or they do it at the hospital, that is a matter for them. We just have to ensure that care is delivered in a manner that is consistent with a civilised society. That is the only concern. You can give me open heart surgery at the prison, if it is safely done and properly done.”

Pilgrim added: “The responsibility of the government is to provide those things through the prison service, and once they comply with that responsibility, I have no say or concern about where it is done, only that it is done properly.”

As to whether there could be legal repercussions if an issue arose during treatment at the prison, Pilgrim stated, “I suspect the risks would make them liable. It might not be easy to prove, but the obligations are clear.”  (JB)