opcat inspections 2011–2014
26
Healthcare in police detention facilities
Of the 52 police detentions facilities inspected, Davidshall in Malmö was the
only one to have procured a service that involved a doctor being on site for a
number of hours each day to assess the inmates’ state of health.
In the period 2011–2014 there were about 20 fatalities in police detention facilities around the country. Over half of these fatalities were people who were
detained pursuant to the Care of Intoxicated Persons Act (LOB).
This act states that, if necessary with reference to the condition of the person
in custody, they shall be examined by a doctor as soon as this can take place.
The person in custody shall be taken to hospital, or a doctor called, as soon
as this can take place if the person’s condition occasions this. The legislative
history of the act stresses the importance of guards having access to instructions that provide guidance in terms of which cases should be subject to
regular medical examination and that also highlight conditions in the event of
confusable diseases (Govt. bill 1975/76:113, p. 124).
Sobering-up unit – TNE
There are sobering-up units (TNE)
at several locations in Sweden.
These are often located in special
centres for dependency disorders
or hospitals. The number of
persons in custody pursuant to the
Care of Intoxicated Persons Act in
2009 was approximately 62 000 according to Missbruksutredningen
(The Substance Misuse Inquiry)
(SOU 2011:35 p. 330f.).
The OPCAT inspections have shown that access of healthcare varies. It is
usually the police inspector in charge who decides whether a doctor is to be
called and whether medicine is to be administered. The training of police
detention facilities personnel includes some healthcare, e.g. cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Most of the inspected police detention facilities have no
specific procedures with respect to inmates with diabetes or other confusable
diseases. Defibrillators and a small amount of medical equipment were available at all the police detention facilities inspected. If there is a sobering-up
unit (TNE), intoxicated persons are taken there if places are available. At all
locations where there is a special sobering-up unit, it is the police service’s
view that there are too few places, which means that intoxicated persons still
have to be taken into police cells. At some police detention facilities that have
an agreement with the Prison and Probation Service, e.g. City Norrmalm and
Uppsala, inmates have access to the Prison and Probation Service’s healthcare
once their cases have been transferred to the service.
As early as the 1970s, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen expressed the opinion
that the police should make arrangements for the medical examination of
an intoxicated person as soon as there might be the least reason for this (JO
1975/76, p. 124). The Parliamentary Ombudsmen has also made statements
saying that there are strong reasons to suggest that diabetics should be examined by a doctor (JO 1982/83 p. 82).
There are also Parliamentary Ombudsmen decisions from more recent years.
In one case, which concerned the care of an intoxicated woman, there was
a note that she suffered from diabetes. She received no particular attention or any particularly careful check. In the first few hours, her supervision
consisted only of establishing that she was lying down. The Parliamentary
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