The ‘Flying Squad’ of nurses treating inmates at NSW prisons

This group of Justice Health NSW nurses fill gaps in rosters at jail clinics all over the state — sometimes for months at a time. It may sound frightening or dangerous, but they all say it’s anything but.

For a group of nine nurses in NSW, arriving at work everyday is like moving through the airport, first they declare their items, then they empty their bags, then they walk through metal detectors and body scanners.

But what waits on the other side of their morning checks isn’t a flight overseas, it’s the locked iron gates of one of the state’s prisons.

Each day they are escorted by guards to mini-hospitals inside the prison walls, spending weeks-long stints at jails from minimum to maximum security to treat inmates.

The group of Justice Health NSW nurses are known as the ‘Flying Squad’, and fill gaps in rosters at 37 jail clinics all over the state.

And while it may seem frightening or dangerous, they all say it’s anything but.

The Flying Nurse Squad Kaila, Amanda Chapman and Rhonda pictured at the Hunter Correctional Centre in Cessnock where they treat inmates. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Nurse Kaila, who has been part of the squad for four months, has already treated inmates at three different prisons, living out of hotel rooms and suitcases in her downtime.

She said on each work day, there is one constant: “you never know what the day is going to hold”.

At Mid North Coast Correctional – a maximum-security prison – she was escorted through the concrete corridors to a cell, trying to keep calm as tear gas burned her eyes.

On the floor was an inmate who had been stabbed multiple times by another man.

“You’re always a bit on edge when you’re going to an environment like that,” she said.

“The tear gas burns your eyes, burns your throat but you’ve got to be cool, calm and collected.

“I was telling him he would be all right, that I was struggling too.”

The squad. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

In the same week there’s anything from self-harm incidents to assaults, drug overdoses and withdrawals and check-ups.

And while she treats some of the state’s worst crims, there’s never been a day she’s felt unsafe.

In fact, she feels safer in prison than in a regular hospital — with at least one corrections officer by her side during every consult.

“I started in hospitals and I was punched, kicked and assaulted many times because there was no security or it would take half an hour for them to come and help,” she said.

“In a correctional setting, it’s more controlled. I’ve felt the safest I’ve ever been on the job with Justice Health NSW, you’ve always got a guard there.”

Nurse Kaila sorting medication for the inmates. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Currently in Tamworth, Nurse Sue eagerly awaits the calls from her manager Amanda, who informs her of her next placements.

The calls usually come on a Friday morning, and by that afternoon she’s left her home in Wallerawang in the Blue Mountains and arrived at the hotel she’ll call home for the next few weeks.

Those sitting next to her on the regional flights, or serving her at the petrol station seldom know where she’s headed and who she’s about to care for, and often it’s people who have made headlines for their crimes.

But for Sue, what they’ve done doesn’t play into how she treats them.

“We all need help sometimes, and so that’s what we do,” she said.

The mini clinic at Hunter Correctional Centre in Cessnock where they treat inmates. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

While Kaila is young and single, Sue is older, has five children, 11 grandchildren and a husband at home.

She went to university to study nursing at 59, and spends up to 12 weeks at a time away from her hubby at home.

“I call myself a part-time wife,” she joked.

“When I first told my family I was going to be a nurse in jail they were like ‘Mum! What?’ so I was telling them I was okay before I knew I was.

“But they are so proud of me.”

She’s been with Flying Squad since it began 18-months ago, and since then she’s been to Wellington, Broken Hill, Bathurst, Kirk Connell, South Coast and Tamworth.

“How things operate is different at every centre,” she said.

Hunter Correctional Centre (pictured) in Cessnock where they treat inmates. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“For example at Tamworth, 99 per cent of patients are Aboriginal, so you have to know their backgrounds, you have to know (culturally) how to do things.

“At other centres there’s a lot of mental health, you may have people with schizophrenia. You never know what you might get.”

For the Flying Squad, they all describe the job with the same word “rewarding” – the reason being many of the inmates have never engaged with the health care system before meeting the nurses, whether it’s for their mental or physical health.

“We are a hidden part of NSW Health,” Nursing Resource and Clinical Support Manager Amanda said.

“But our patients are disproportionately unwell, and there is a stigma attached to being in jail. But we aren’t there to judge. We’re there to help them and do the best we can for them.”