- 50 81.
In light of the serious staff shortcomings identified above, the CPT recommends once
again, as an initial measure, that the Greek authorities urgently reinforce health-care staffing
levels in the following establishments:
-
-
at Alikarnassos Prison, recruit three additional nurses;
at Corinth Prison, recruit the equivalent of one full-time nurse;
at Korydallos Men’s Prison, recruit the equivalent of four full-time general
practitioners, and at least six additional full-time nurses, at least one of whom should
have experience of mental health work; and increase the number of dental and
psychiatric consultations;
at Nafplio, recruit at least one full-time general practitioner and three additional
qualified nurses;
at Diavata Prison, recruit at least the equivalent of one full-time general practitioner
and at least three additional qualified nurses.
This initial reinforcement of health-care staffing levels should be completed by the end
of January 2016 at the latest.
Further, the CPT reiterates its recommendation that prisoners should not be involved
in the performance of health-care tasks which require specialised training, and under no
circumstances should they perform the distribution of medicines and/or have access to
medical records.
In addition, prison officers who do not possess the relevant qualifications should not
carry out nursing functions. Further, any qualified prison officers working in the health-care
service of a prison should be under the authority of the senior doctor/nurse manager
responsible for the service.
82.
There remains a lack of coordination and consultation among the various medical staff working
in prisons. It was particularly evident that visiting psychiatrists were not engaging with the wider
primary health care team. The smooth operation of a health care service presupposes that doctors and
nursing staff are able to meet regularly and to form a working team under the authority of a senior
doctor/nurse manager in charge of the service.
The CPT recommends once again that in each prison a senior doctor/nurse manager be
appointed as the head of health care, with responsibility for managing the health-care service and
ensuring there is a regular consultation process among the staff.
83.
A medical assessment upon admission is generally carried out within 24 hours at
Alikarnassos, Diavata and Korydallos Men’s Prisons, and at Nafplio Prison if the nurse is present; it
includes a basic medical history and taking blood pressure. However, quite a few prisoners are not
seen for more than a week after admission and some have no entries in their medical file. Indeed the
medical files are poorly filled out. Further, screening for infectious diseases is not always routine
and a physical examination only takes place if the prisoner raises a medical issue. At Corinth
Prison, there was no systematic screening upon arrival.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents