§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the prison regulations so that any person admitted to prison who is known to be a suicide risk is not placed in a cell alone until he has been examined by a medical practitioner.
§ Mr. BrittanWe are considering some changes in the guidance issued to prison staff about suicides and attempted suicides in the light of the lessons learned from some recent cases. It would, however, be inappropriate to introduce a general rule that a prisoner who is thought to be suicidal should not share a cell until he has been examined by the medical officer because there may be other considerations, such as the need to protect him from assault by other prisoners or the need to protect other prisoners from assault by him.