§ Miss Maynardasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why Patrick Joseph Conlan was removed from Hammersmith hospital back to Wormwood Scrubs prison a week or so before he died and was later transferred back to Hammersmith hospital again.
§ Mr. WhitelawOn 11 January 1980 Mr. Conlan was transferred from Hammersmith hospital to Wormwood374W Scrubs prison—where he was located in the prison hospital—because the consultant physician responsible for his care considered that he was fit for discharge from hospital. Following a deterioration in his condition he was returned to the Hammersmith hospital on 18 January.
§ Miss Maynardasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what stage it became known to the medical authorities either in prison or out of it that Patrick Joseph Conlan was dying.
§ Mr. WhitelawFrom the commencement of his sentence Mr. Conlan was known to be in poor health and this was aggravated from time to time by serious and unpredictable attacks of the chest infections to which he was susceptible. On 18 January Mr. Conlan developed acute respiratory distress which did not respond to treatment and he was transferred the same day to the Hammersmith hospital. He remained seriously ill although it was not possible to predict with any certainty whether he would die, until shortly before his death.