§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is now in a position to state the expenditure on drugs by the prison hospital service in each of the past three years.
§ Mr. JohnI would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to a Question by him on 26th July 1976 adding only that the final figure for 1975–76 is £277,918.—[Vol. 916, c. 14.]
§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now seek to obtain consent to treatment from prisoners in prison hospitals for those medical procedures which would require consent in NHS hospitals.
§ Mr. JohnThe ethical code of practice for doctors in the prison medical service is the same as for any other registered medical practitioner.
§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many doctors are employed by the present hospital services; and how many of these have specialist psychiatric qualifications.
§ Mr. John95 whole-time and 84 part-time doctors are employed in the prison medical service, of whom 59 have psychiatric qualifications. In addition there are 72 visiting psychotherapists; and seven250W Consultant psychiatrists are employed jointly by the Home Office and the Area Health Authorities.
§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nursing staff are employed by the prison hospital services; and of that number, how many have the following qualifications, respectively, SRN, SEN and RMN.
§ Mr. John686 prison hospital officers and 147 nurses are employed in the prison nursing service. Complete records of qualifications are not available centrally, but available information shows numbers qualified as follows:
Hospital Officers 15 SRN* 41 SEN 8 RMN * Including five who also hold RMN. Nurses 86 SRN* 35 SEN 1 RMN * Including eight who also hold RMN.
§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many beds are available for sick prisoners in the prison hospital service.
§ Mr. JohnOn 31st December 1976 the total number of hospital beds in all Prison Service establishments in England and Wales was 2,076.