Illegal to sick inmate shackled to wheelchair in toilet, Ombudsman says

SHACKLING a 53-year-old lung disease patient to her wheelchair while she went to the toilet was illegal the Ombudsman has found, in a rebuke of the Prisons Department.

SHACKLING a 53-year-old lung disease patient to her wheelchair while she went to the toilet was illegal the Ombudsman has found, in a rebuke of the Prisons Department.

The Ombudsman, Richard Bingham, said the restraint was excessive for a prisoner who was too sick to walk; involving her legs being shackled together, one leg shackled to the hospital bed, one arm handcuffed to the bed frame and when she was in her wheelchair her legs being shackled.

Rosemary Bowley complained to the Ombudsman about her treatment after being shackled for three days during a hospital visit in the week of Christmas last year, despite only being able to walk a few steps at a time without the aid of a walking frame or wheelchair.

Ms Bowley, a low security prisoner in jail for drug trafficking, had collapsed suffering from a lung failure when she was admitted to hospital, and the Ombudsman has found no shackling at all was required.

“The wheelchair was wheeled into the toilet cubical by a male officer, I was left shackled to the wheelchair and had to manoeuvre myself off the chair onto the toilet and back again,’’ she told Mr Bingham in uncontested evidence.

Mr Bingham found Ms Bowley had blood taken 3 to 4 times a day from an artery in her shackled wrist, she was bruised on her legs and wrists from the shackles, refused contact with her family who were not even told by the department she was in hospital.

The Prison’s Department told the Ombudsman that after a review in the hospital which took three days to process, Ms Bowley’s shackling was downgraded to “leg restraint to bed only”.

A spokesman for the Department told The Advertiser these reviews would be sped up in future: “Matters relating to compliance with the time frames detailed in the Department’s Standard Operating Procedure have been addressed internally’’.

But after it rejected Mr Bingham’s initial finding that what it did to the woman was wrong, the Ombudsman revised this and found it was actually illegal according to the department’s own legislation.

“I understand that the complainant was very sick during this time. She had been admitted to hospital after collapsing due to breathing difficulties; she required oxygen during her hospital stay and while at the prison Infirmary; she stayed in hospital for 13 days,’’ Mr Bingham found.

“I am informed by her son that she relied on a walking frame to walk more than a few steps at a time. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I accept this was the case.’’

A spokesman for the Department refused to tell The Advertiser what offence led to Ms Bowley being in jail.

The Ombudsman found the department should change its policies on restraints, stating the department had: “acted in a manner that is contrary to law’’, and review shackling more quickly after a patient was admitted to hospital.

The behaviour had: “Lead to an unreasonable use of force being applied for some time; in my view it was simply not necessary for the complainant to be shackled by both legs and an arm when she was so ill and this occurred over several days’’.

“In light of the complainant’s condition it appears she did not constitute a threat to hospital staff or the community and there was little risk of escape.

“I also note that this was the complainant’s first period of imprisonment and there had been no issue or concerns raised about her conduct.

“It is also my view that it was not ‘reasonably necessary’ to shackle the complainant at all during her hospital stay.’’