THE RIGHT TO HEALTH IN PRISON:
RESULTS OF A NATIONWIDE SURVEY AND REPORT
CHAPTER 4:
OBSERVATIONS
Introduction
4.1
The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a balanced examination of the
survey and analysis, vis-à-vis the observations of the Commission.
4.2
The observations were made during the Commission’s visits to selected
prisons during the national survey.
(i)
Medical and Health Care Staff:
Qualified Medical and Health Care Staff
4.3
A basic requirement to ensure that prisoners have adequate access to health
care is to ensure that each prison has a fully qualified medical practitioner
to render preventive, routine, urgent, and emergency health care in a timely
manner, consistent with accepted health care practice and standards.
4.4
In addition to a doctor (or more than one doctor in large prisons), there
should be other qualified health care personnel reporting to the doctor,
delivering medical assistance and care.104
Custodial and Non-Custodial Measures: The Prison System Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit. Accessed via https://www.
unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/cjat_eng/1_Prison_%20System.pdf on 29/2/16
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