"Prisoners on ward"

This review is not about the care my son received whilst in Ward 18 of St John’s (which was great) but an incident that occurred whilst he was there. My son slept throughout the whole incident!

Ward 18 is made up of a combination of 6-bed mini wards and several very small private rooms. The bed my son was in was a 6-bed ward immediately next to the main entrance to Ward 18. All the beds had been allocated although at the time a patient was out of the room for treatment. My son was in a bed next to the window farthest from the ward door, A bed by the door was occupied by a prisoner who was handcuffed on a very long chain to one of the two guards sitting by his bedside. I admit I was surprised to see this and did feel uncomfortable even embarrassed at seeing the man being chained but fully understand the need for this. 

When I arrived on the ward I was aware of tension in the room. At some point, the prisoner became angry in relation to his circumstances. Whilst I could hear him swearing he wasn’t shouting just angrily expressing his dissatisfaction to the guards about the need to sign forms and wait for transport to allow him to leave. At this point, he leapt out of bed and stormed the length of the ward to stand at the window scowling and staring out. His guard had little option but to follow him and stood about 6 feet away from him (not invading his private space). The prisoner was now only about 6 feet from where I was sitting and my son sleeping. We were separated by the TV and the table it sat on. At no time did he speak to anyone other than the guards although he looked in my direction a few times. The atmosphere in the room was one of aggression and was very intimidating. We all remained silent anxiously watching the event unfold, the background noise in the room was from the TV which was detailing terrible news which only added to the feeling of stress in the room. One of the guards mobile phone rang very loudly (this happened several times during the time I was on the ward showing a complete lack of consideration for sleeping patients) and he announced to his prisoner that the van would be 20 minutes. (It was actually about 45 minutes before it arrived) They then went about getting him ready which involved putting his top down the length of the long chain. There was no privacy for the patient/prisoner as they didn’t close the curtain; the whole thing was excruciatingly embarrassing. Eventually, two other guards turned up and the prisoner was transferred to ordinary handcuffs and he and the four guards left the ward at which time there was a collective sigh of relief.

It was degrading and intimidating to see a man on a long chain in a hospital environment. I do get and fully support the "If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime" attitude. I accept that handcuffs and removal of privileges and loss of dignity come with the punishment for crime but a hospital is not a prison and the four other patients in the ward and myself were/are not prisoners but for this period that was exactly how I felt. I was reluctant to leave my sleeping son as I had no idea what was going to happen. Being at the entrance meant every single time someone came in or out they saw the chained man. If there was no medical reason for having him in a bed by the door I believe the prisoner would have been better placed at the far end of the ward in the bed my son occupied – opposite the toilet and next to the window. This would mean the exit from the ward was available for all mobile patients should a situation arise requiring them to leave quickly? I think, ideally, prisoners should be nursed in a private room but I realise there is a shortage of these and priority has to be a medical need rather than embarrassment but there needs to be a balance. One of the patients told me that this prisoner was the fourth on the ward that week and it did not make him feel comfortable so he intended making his own complaint. It occurs to me that there must also be an issue when children, especially young children, visit patients on the ward, the last thing a parent will expect whilst visiting a partner/ grandparent/friend is for their child to witness a man in chains with guards by his bed.

Prisoners must, of course, be given the same medical treatment as others but it shouldn’t be allowed to impinge on the wellbeing/ recovery/safety of the other patients. I cannot suggest a solution on how this can be best achieved and quite simply state that is a job for senior managers to resolve. I do however think if a prisoner is on a ward then the other patients should at the very least, where practical, be given some advance warning before entering the ward and guidance on what to do if they feel unsafe. My son went for his operation shortly after the incident and was moved to a side room when he returned.

I did not speak personally to any of the staff about this until the following day having had time to reflect on the situation. I advised a member of staff on duty of my intention to put a review on this site who did say that if I had spoken to the staff at the time they could have called extra security or the police if necessary but on what grounds could they do that – because there is an atmosphere in the room? Because he looked at me? Or because I personally felt the situation was volatile? We were all rooted to the spot frightened to say or do anything that may have escalated the situation and totally ignorant of any enhanced security system for prisoners- there was after all already two guards in the room. In fairness, the nurse I spoke to said angry and aggressive patients are not limited to prisoners stating prisoners tend to be very respectful although many do self-discharge.

This was a very unpleasant situation that I would not wish either myself or my son to be placed in again but as my son requires further surgery it may well happen. I do not think this is a healthy environment in which to recover from surgery, especially if the patient is already nervous about being in the hospital or worried about their health.