Page 4688 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Inadequate blood-borne virus testing practices at the AMC are likely to have unintended consequences in relation to engagement in injecting risk behaviours among people who mistakenly believe they are HCV positive …
Testing for illicit drugs is equally ineffective. Burnet found no meaningful trend in urinalysis being conducted over time. It appears that tests may also be open to manipulation.
It is clear that the strategies to prevent illicit drugs from entering the jail are failing, with Burnet finding evidence that:
… slightly less than half of respondents described drugs as “easy” or “very easy” to obtain at the AMC.
And maybe this stems from what Burnet described as “inconsistent rates of searching”.
Among the litany of serious problems, Burnet found “inconsistent quality of case management services being provided”, “a lack of coordination of services by multiple providers”, “no evidence that any discharge planning is occurring”, “implementation of through-care has been poor”; there were “limited counselling opportunities available for prisoners”, “poorer access to education and employment programs than New South Wales”, “expertise is lacking in key areas required to implement programs”, “an increasing trend for non-completion of drug programs”; there were “delays experienced by prisoners in seeking medical officers for review of detox regimes”, “a lack of non-medication support for detoxification”, and “unacceptable delays in accessing health care were reported by both prisoners and staff”.
Probably the most disturbing element of the report, however, is that staff may be pushing methadone on prisoners after they have already detoxed. And Burnet found:
Some prisoners, ex-prisoners, community service providers and Corrections staff were concerned that prisoners experienced undue influence from health staff to commence methadone, especially after they had detoxed from other drugs.
And:
This practice means that individuals completely withdraw from opiates and then are rendered physically dependent once again after they initiated on the methadone.
It is inconceivable that an NSP should be considered until such time as the serious failings identified in the Burnet report are fully resolved. And I remind members that this is Katy Gallagher’s own report. Rather, the focus should be on the policies and services currently in place which, if working as they should, would provide an effective response to drug addictions, criminal behaviours and hep C transmission. An NSP would actually detract from many of the objectives of these strategies.
Implementation of additional strategies and programs to complement those already in place, drawn from experience interstate and overseas, would further reduce drug-
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video