Ambulances ferrying prisoners for ‘no reason’

Ambulances are being taken off the road 25 times a week to take criminals to hospital, with prison officers claiming some trips are for “no reason”.

Ambulances are being taken off the road 25 times a week to take criminals to hospital, with prison officers claiming some trips are for no reason because nursing staff aren’t there.

The Courier-Mail can reveal ambulances were called out to the Wacol jail precinct in Brisbane’s west more than 100 times a month in the last financial year, costing taxpayers almost $2m.

But the cost is much greater, as prison officers are being sent inside ambulances to jail, taking them off their posts.

While the vast majority of call-outs were legitimate, prison officers said inmates pushed boundaries after hours and were at times drug seeking or seeking help when nursing staff weren’t available.

There were 1368 incidents with ambulance call-outs to Wolston, Brisbane Women’s Arthur Gorrie and Brisbane jails between July 2022-23, according to figures released under Right to Information.

The figures show an increase of 48 per cent in incidents, compared to figures provided in 2014-15 when 919 Queensland Ambulance Service jobs were recorded and when the prisoner population was lower.

The calls included 343 for pain, 84 for lacerations, 67 for swelling, 29 for bleeding, 25 for bruising, 30 for headaches and 24 for fevers.

Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol

Seventy-six call-outs were for breathing difficulties, 29 for dizziness, 17 for speech problems, two for being light headed, one for a toothache and two listed as “unwell”.

There were 280 cases that were listed as “not documented”.

Prison officers told The Courier-Mail the problem was worse at night because in many instances there were no night nursing staff on.

There could be a dozen prison officers sent to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital as a result.

Assistant state secretary of the Together union Michael Thomas said the number of prison ambulance call-outs was a concern raised by officers for a long time.

“Every time a prisoner has to be escorted to hospital for a medical issue it means officers are pulled off posts within the centre, reducing the safety and security of the centre while it occurs,” he said.

“At the same time we are tying up ambulances, that are providing a scarce resource to the community, for no reason.

“It’s clear that if a higher level of care was provided in these centres overnight these problems would be alleviated. And when we are talking of a prisoner population of hundreds of prisoners, the likelihood that some medical issue may arise is not insignificant.

“The stats show that issues happen on a regular if not nightly basis, justifying a higher level of health care in centres than is being provided at the moment.”

The union said Arthur Gorrie had two night nurses who were not prescribers but were there for a “code blue” emergency response and Brisbane had two night nurses on shift. However at Wolston and Brisbane Women’s jail they finished at 9pm.

Aerial view of Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre

The majority of call-outs were to Arthur Gorrie and Brisbane.

The figures showed more than 300 of the 1368 incidents were between the hours of 6pm and 6am.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said international, national and state regulations required prisoners to receive services comparable to the wider community.

“Since 2017-18, Queensland Health has more than doubled funding to Hospital and Health Services to enhance primary healthcare services for patients in Queensland Corrective Services custody. There are no plans to reduce this funding.

“While most high-security correctional centres have health staff on duty overnight, transfers to hospitals can still occur. A thorough evaluation based solely on a patient’s medical needs will be completed to determine if a hospital visit is necessary.”

The spokeswoman said data showed most hospital transfers were during the day and were “aligning with patients requiring specialised services typically unavailable at correctional centres” such as specialised diagnostic services.

The spokeswoman said establishing X-ray services in South East Queensland jails had reduced escorts and follow-up treatments with about 800 fewer trips a year.

“Looking ahead, Queensland Health is committed to meeting the evolving healthcare needs of people in custody at both the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre and the upcoming Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre,” the spokeswoman said.