§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines or instructions currently exist for the treatment and medical care of prisoners with epilepsy.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Elliot Morley, dated 21 June 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the guidelines or instructions which currently exist for the treatment and medical care of prisoners with epilepsy.At reception every prisoner is asked if they suffer from fits or epilepsy. If they do, enquiries are made about the nature of the treatment they are receiving. Further investigation may be required to see whether there is supportive evidence, as found in an electroencephalogram, or whether other conditions which can mimic epilepsy can be excluded from the diagnosis.The prison doctor would then decide whether working conditions which could prove dangerous to a epilepsy sufferer, 79W such as working with machinery at heights or driving, should preclude a sufferer from working in these conditions. Medical instructions are issued accordingly.The training of all doctors and nurses includes the treatment and management of epilepsy. The induction training of all prison officers, includes training specifically aimed at the recognition of the symptoms of an epileptic episode, together with training in the appropriate first aid response.In our plans for continuing medical education of prison health care staff, the management of epilepsy is to be given high priority.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have died as a result of epilepsy in each prison service establishment in each year since 1984.
Establishment 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Birmingham — — — — 1 — — — — Brixton 1 1 — — — — — — — Coldingley — — — — 1 — — — — Kingston — — — — — — — — 1 Leeds — — — 1 — — — — — Maidstone — — — — 1 — — — — Parkhurst — — — — — — — — 1 Stafford — — — — 1 — — — — Wandsworth — 1 — — — — — — —