Long-term Deprivation of Liberty
by health services due to the pathology of inmates, which would be of particular
interest as regards complaints for delays in the medical assistance. The women’s
prison of Barcelona and the prison of Murcia II did not have such a register, and
the prison of Alava also did not have a protocol for those cases of requests for
urgent assistance. Therefore, it has been requested that these shortcomings be
remedied.
88. As was already expressed in paragraphs 339 of the 2010 Annual Report and
130 of the 2011 Annual Report, it would be convenient to conduct certain medi
cal consultations through a telemedicine system. Of the facilities visited, the
prison of Alava stands out as a pioneer in the use of this system, which has al
lowed for access to specialized assistance, thus reducing delays and avoiding
transportation of the inmate and the possibility of cancellation of these consulta
tions.
Telemedicine systems
89. During the visit to the prison of Ocaña II (Toledo), the Institution was in
formed that inmates needing surgery were on a waiting list of nearly one year,
with the only exception of the specialty of maxillofacial surgery. In that regard,
more detailed information has been requested from the SGIP on those inmates
who may be affected by such delay, in order to assess the possible opening of an
investigation in this respect by the Health and Social Policy Department of the
Ombudsman Institution.
At Ocaña II (Toledo) a
90. As regards the dispensing of medication, doctor’s prescriptions are included
in the medical history and the dosage of the medication being administered to
each inmate is prepared in individualized bags, which are duly labeled. The crite
rion of the Ombudsman Institution is that, when medication requires a closer
monitoring (such as the case of psychotropic drugs), this should be administered
under the direct observation of the healthcare personnel, and it was thus recom
mended particularly with regard to the prison of Alava. At the prison of A Lama
(Pontevedra), the insufficient number of clinical assistants, who are in charge of
administering the medication, makes it impossible to guarantee the distribution
thereof on the weekends (with the exception of the infirmary pavilion, where it is
carried out by registered nurses). Therefore, it would be necessary to implement
the appropriate procedures to increase the size of the staff in that regard.
When the patient requires
91. Prisons should begin to computerize medical histories and to coordinate
with public health services, both primary and specialized care, as tools to im
prove the medical assistance provided to inmates. At the prison of Alava it was
noticed that several ways to manage the medical history coexisted at the center,
and this Institution considers that the integration of all systems would be advis
able. At the prison of A Lama (Pontevedra), a lack of coordination was detected
between the general assistance network and the prison physicians, which some
times provoked duplications when requesting diagnostic and analytic tests, and
delays in the reading of their results. It would therefore be advisable to implement
An effort should be made
THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN
should be used
waiting list of nearly one
year has been detected for
surgical interventions
close monitoring, the
administration of
medication should be done
under the direct
observation of the
healthcare personnel
to computerize the medical
histories, as well as to
coordinate with the public
healthcare system
85
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