SA Prisons Face Scrutiny Over Lack of 24-Hour Health Care

The recent apology from the South Australian government regarding the denial of a medical termination to a woman in Adelaide Women's Prison highlights a critical failing in our correctional health system. It is unacceptable that women in our state's prisons are not afforded the same basic medical monitoring available elsewhere, let alone the 24-hour care provided at facilities like Yatala Labour Prison and the Adelaide Remand Centre.

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Nurses, social workers, psychologists and medical professionals are woefully under provided in prisons.

While the findings of the coronial inquest into Matthew Holding's death at Cadell Training Centre may have concluded the outcome was unpreventable, this does not absolve the state of its responsibility to provide adequate healthcare. The fact that South Australia remains the sole state without 24-hour staffed health facilities for incarcerated women is a stark indictment of our priorities. Prisoner advocacy services rightly point out the woeful understaffing of nurses, social workers, psychologists, and medical professionals within our prisons.

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Our society should use its plentiful national resources to treat every citizen equally and that means prisoners receive equal access to health care.

Our society professes to value equal treatment for all citizens, yet the reality within our prison walls falls drastically short. The plentiful national resources available should be directed towards ensuring prisoners receive equitable access to healthcare. This is not a matter of coddling inmates, but a fundamental issue of human rights and public health. The current situation is a disservice to both the incarcerated and the dedicated, yet overburdened, healthcare staff working within the system.

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I am not satisfied that accommodating Mr Holding within a facility with a 24-hour health care centre would have altered the outcome.