§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the rules on force feeding by tube of prisoners who refuse to take any nourishment, in prisons and remand centres respectively.
§ Lord BELSTEADThe decision on whether to resort to tube feeding in any particular case is a matter for the clinical judgment of the medical officer. Prison standing orders provide that if a prisoner is reported as persistently refusing to accept any form of food, the medical officer should at an early stage examine him, explain the effect of self-starvation upon health, and consider the advisability of admitting him to the prison hospital for observation. If the medical officer is of the opinion that the prisoner's capacity for rational judgment is unimpaired by illness, mental or physical, he should seek confirmation of his opinion from an outside consultant; and if the consultation confirms that opinion, the medical officer should make it clear to the prisoner that he will continue to receive medical supervision and advice and that food will be made available to him but that there is no rule of practice which requires any medical officer to resort to artificial feeding and that the consequent and inevitable deterioration in his health may be allowed to continue without medical intervention unless he specifically requests it. There are no rules about the form of artificial feeding in cases where a clinical decision has been taken that this should be provided. There is no difference between prisons and remand centres in this respect.