Prison nurses are passionate about their work and provide an effective service, says the prison health service head in the wake of a call to transfer the service into the health sector.
A recent National Health Committee report into improving prisoner health recommends shifting prison health services from the corrections sector to the health sector be investigated further.
But Deborah Alleyne, nurse and Department of Corrections’ acting national health manager, said while the department acknowledged the report raised some important issues, it failed to take into account significant changes in recent times.
The committee’s report, Health in justice: Improving the health of prisoners, their families and whanau, says prisoners disproportionately experience poor health and their health needs are not adequately addressed either in prison or the wider community.
“A custodial approach that prioritises behavioural risk management over clinical need is an ineffective response to prisoners’ health problems,” says the report.
Alleyne said Correction’s primary custodial role did not conflict with it providing healthcare as providing effective prisoner health services was part of its “commitment to ensuring safe and humane containment”.
She said the committee’s report also did not make clear how fragmenting prison health service delivery to a number of different DHBs would improve consistency of care. “Nor is it apparent how this will improve the impact of the constraints to service delivery imposed by the security needs of prisons.”
The national prison health service employs around 200 nurses nationally as well additional contracted services provided by GPs, dentists and other health professionals.
Alleyne said prison health services deliver an effective service to prisoners.
“Nurses who work in prisons are passionate about what they do and committed to providing care to a population who frequently arrive in prison with significant unaddressed health issues,” Alleyne said. She said nurses believed they contributed to the Department of Corrections objective of safer communities but mostly believed in working alongside individuals to support them making positive change.
The report says the department is in effect the health provider to people with the highest and most complex needs and if New Zealand was to manage the escalating health needs and costs of the growing and aging prison population it must focus on “prevention, high-quality care and rehabilitation”.
It also says health professionals working in correctional settings need appropriate support, protections, training, and accountabilities. Plus health services to prisoners need to focus on early identification and assessment, rather than being “primarily reactive to incidents of injury or disease”.
Recommendations are made for family to be involved in setting goals and care planning, for timely transferal of prisoner’s health records and for active referrals when they leave prison to ensure they and their families access appropriate treatment and recovery options.
The Ministers of Health and Corrections, Tony Ryall and Judith Collins have said they will be asking the Ministry of Health and Department of Corrects for formal advice on the report.
A copy of the report is available at http://www.nhc.health.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/nhc-health-in-justice
