Prince of Wales Hospital’s secure ward for prisoners to close down

A secure ward for prisoners at Prince of Wales Hospital — where notorious criminals like Ivan Milat and Neddy Smith were treated — is set to close its doors.

Behind the bars and guarded gates of Prince of Wales Hospital’s level nine ward, doctors and nurses have treated some of the state’s most notorious prisoners — including Ivan Milat and Neddy Smith — but at the end of this month, the secure floor will be shut down.

Known as the Annex, the ­secure ward has long been ­reserved for inmates requiring specialist medical and end-of- life care.

Some of the state’s worst criminals have been held and treated at the Annex.

Ivan Milat spent days in the restricted ward in the months before he died, and Neddy Smith attempted to escape from the clinic in 2017.

While local public hospitals and Long Bay Hospital are used for acute and critical care of inmates from jails across the state, the Annex is the state’s only secure correctional facility within a NSW public hospital and resembles a jail — with iron gates preventing anyone coming in or out, and bars ­securing the windows.

The entrance to the Annex – a small hospital ward for inmates located within the Prince of Wales Hospital.

It comprises a four-bed ward, a three-bed ward and a single-bed ward.

Under protocol, one officer was required to supervise each minimum security inmate, and two to three officers were required to supervise each maximum security inmates.

Ivan Milat spent time in the Annex.

Neddy Smith tired to escape from the Annex in 2017.

Yet it’s being closed down for good in the coming days as the Randwick hospital undergoes a major redevelopment.

It’s understood there are no plans to rebuild or establish a secure floor for inmates.

A hospital spokesperson said the model of care for correctional patients had “been reviewed”.

“The new model of care ­expands on what is already the normal practice for a majority of correctional patients and will provide the most efficient, effective, and safe care for staff and patients within the Prince of Wales Hospital,” they said.

“This change will ensure correctional patients continue to be securely managed across the hospital, in the clinically appropriate area equipped to provide care according to their presenting condition, while prioritising staff safety.

“Correctional patients will continue to be supervised by correctional officers at all times while they are admitted to and in the care of the Prince of Wales Hospital.”

While there will be no jail-type setting in the hospital replete with bars and locked gates, The Sunday Telegraph understands there will still be secure areas for inmates needing treatment who will be guarded by Corrective Services NSW staff.

“Officers will continue to facilitate inmate medical escorts to hospitals when required and to supervise inmates in their own space, prioritising the safety of corrections and medical staff and the wider community,” a CSNSW spokesperson said.

Corrections staff who manned the secure ward would be redeployed to the Medical Escort Unit or Long Bay Hospital.