Key points • Health staff must not participate in disciplinary procedures in any way, particularly in certifying prisoners fit to withstand procedures, including solitary confinement. • Where the use of solitary confinement is abusive and may amount to torture or other forms of ill-treatment, health staff have a duty to report and denounce such acts to the appropriate authorities and professional bodies. • Prisoners in solitary confinement, just like other prisoners, have the right to an equivalent level of medical care to that available outside the prison • The providers of medical care in prison are bound by the usual established principles of medical ethics, in particular the confidentiality of medical information. • It is the duty of medical personnel to familiarise themselves with these principles Sourcebook on solitary confinement: The role of health professionals in segregation units 67