§ Baroness Masham of Iltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there will be a Prison Service inquiry into the recent restraint of a prisoner in Addenbrooke's Hospital following brain surgery; and, if so, whether they will place a copy of the report of the inquiry in the Library.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility 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.
14WALetter to Baroness Masham of Ilton from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 11th February 1997.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the of use restraints on a prisoner in Addenbrooke's Hospital following brain surgery and whether there will be an inquiry.
In accordance with the requirements of security policy at the time, a full risk assessment was carried out when the prisoner referred to was released to hospital for surgery in May 1996. This was updated as appropriate and decisions regarding the application of restraints were based upon the risk assessment. The prisoner was in the very early stages of a sentence for serious drugs offences, and despite his ill health, it was considered appropriate to apply restraints, unless their removal was requested by medical or nursing staff. Restraints were not applied when he was located in the intensive care unit. I do not consider that there needs to be an inquiry into this incident.