HL Deb 11 December 1997 vol 584 c52WA
Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What arrangements are made to screen and treat prisoners with mental illnesses within the prison service in Scotland.

Lord Sewel

On admission to prison, every prisoner is assessed by a nurse and within 24 hours is also seen by the prison doctor for a full medical assessment, including current and past mental health history and treatment. If the doctor considers it necessary, and provided the prisoner gives his consent, contact is made with the prisoner's own doctor for further information on diagnosis, medication and treatment. Any treatment that the prisoner has been receiving in the community is continued if deemed appropriate.

All receiving prisons have access to psychiatric consultants who attend regularly and see those prisoners referred to them by the prison doctor. Day care facilities for mentally-ill prisoners are also available in certain prisons. In cases where it is considered that a prisoner with a mental illness cannot be cared for in prison, arrangements are made for that person to transfer to a psychiatric hospital. In appropriate cases, the prisoner may be compulsorily detained in hospital under the provisions of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984.