Whistleblowers fear dangerous inmates will be treated in public hospitals after closure of Victoria’s only prison hospital

Prison officers fear killers, rapists and other violent criminals will be thrust onto public hospitals with the pending closure of the state’s only prison hospital, leaving vulnerable Victorians at risk.

Prison officers fear killers, rapists and other violent criminals will be thrust onto public hospitals with the pending closure of the state’s only prison hospital.

Senior Corrections Victoria sources have warned the planned closure of the 40-bed Port Phillip Prison hospital later this year will mean scores of the state’s worst offenders will be forced into the public system for specialist treatment.

The most dangerous criminals will be shackled and accompanied by armed guards at all times, but prison whistleblowers have warned that community safety could be compromised by the expected influx of patients into the system.

“Port Phillip has very high profile and dangerous criminals … prisoners who will attack staff, those that will attack prisoners, those that just don’t care, and they will become violent at the drop of a hat, and you potentially could be putting them in public beds,” one senior source said.

“Imagine your wife, your mother, your daughter in a bed opposite one of these people, where their dignity and privacy is compromised, but also their safety.”

Prisoners already access public hospitals as necessary, but prison authorities are bracing for a huge surge in demand with the closure of the dedicated prison hospital and an expected increase in prisoners amid the Allan government’s tough new bail laws.

On Saturday the state government denied there would be any increase in prisoners entering state hospitals because of the closure of the prison hospital with a spokeswoman saying existing facilities and the new Western Plains Correctional facility would be able to take prisoners previously treated in the Port Phillip prison hospital.

The new Western Plains Correctional Centre is expected to take some of the prisoners previously treated in the Port Phillip prison hospital. Picture: Mitch Clarke

From July 1 prisoners will begin to be moved from the maximum security prison to the new Lara jail.

While the new $1.1bn facility includes a subacute medical facility sources said its capabilities fell well short of the 40-bed Port Phillip Prison hospital which serviced prisoners from across the state.

The state government injected $20m into the hospital in 2020 to double the number of beds and reduce reliance on community-based hospitals and the need to transport prisoners outside the prison.

Former Corrections minister Natalie Hutchins said at the time the expansion was “a crucial part of building a stronger corrections system that helps keep communities safe now and into the future.”

Shadow Corrections minister, David Southwick, accused the government of losing control of community safety.

“Less than five years ago, Labor was cutting ribbons at a $20 million upgrade to a 40-bed prison hospital. Now, in the middle of a crime crisis, they want to shut it down and send dangerous criminals to public hospitals instead,” he said.

“Labor must explain how the safety of patients and healthcare workers won’t be compromised when dangerous prisoners could be placed in our hospital wards.

“First it was high-risk youth offenders on bail in schools. Now it looks like dangerous prisoners could be in our hospitals. This government is completely out of touch when it comes to keeping Victorians safe.”

Prison whistleblowers have warned that community safety could be compromised by the expected influx of patients into the system.

A government spokesperson said subacute medical units were operating at Ravenhall Correctional Centre and Hopkins Correctional Centre with a third to open at the Western Plains Correctional Centre when it opens later this year.

They would also operate at the Metropolitan Remand Centre and the Fulham Correctional Centre while a 10 bed secure ward also operated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.

“There will not be a reduction in capacity following the closure of Port Phillip at the end of the year,” she said.

“High-risk prisoners are only treated in secure facilities and not in amongst the general public.

“Corrections Victoria has facilities and services in place to ensure that people in custody receive the health care they need, without taking up beds in the public health system.”

But a senior Corrections source described the claims as “bullshit” and said existing medical beds provided very limited services and could not provide hospital level care.

“The Port Phillip hospital is a very specialised facility,” they said.

“The medical facilities are very different.

“There is no doubt that when this hospital goes, yes, some prisoners will be able to be treated in those facilities.

“But there will be some that will need to go to hospital, and they will need to go to a public hospital.”

Originally published as Whistleblowers fear dangerous inmates will be treated in public hospitals after closure of Victoria’s only prison hospital