NT prisons: NT Health, Correctional Services both disclaim responsibility for prisoner health

NT Health and Correctional Services have both farcically claimed the other is responsible for the health of prisoners, and declined to reveal statistics on the worsening ratio of health practitioners to inmates in the facilities.

The ratio of prisoners to NT Health staff embedded within the state’s two prisons is declining, but neither NT Health nor NT Correctional Services would offer figures on the current ratio. PICTURE Will Zwar

NT Health and Correctional Services have both farcically claimed the other is responsible for the health of prisoners, while the agencies have also refused to release figures on the declining ratio of health practitioners to prisoners at Territory jails.

The finger pointing between the two agencies was in response to questions by this masthead about how long it took incoming prisoners to receive a full review of their medical records after being admitted.

The worsening capacity of NT Health staff to perform the review in a timely manner was highlighted in the recent coronial inquest into the death of a man known for cultural reasons as Mr Dooley.

Mr Dooley, who was incarcerated, died of a heart attack on October 22, 2022.

In June this year, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage found Mr Dooley’s death was preventable and was caused substantially by failures, omissions and lapses from NT Health and Northern Territory Correctional Services.

Among them included poor communication between the agencies, lax record keeping, the failure to have a cardiologist review Mr Dooley’s test result, and a prison diet too rich in saturated fats.

37-year-old Mr Dooley. Picture: NT Coroner’s Court

While not specifically identified as a serious lapse in the level of care Mr Dooley was entitled to receive, Ms Armitage highlighted the declining capability of overwhelmed NT Health staff embedded within NT prisons.

Ms Armitage found after being imprisoned on June 17, 2022, and receiving an initial health screen on June 21, a full review of Mr Dooley’s health records was not completed until July 5.

The review was formerly – “and perhaps aspirationally” – known as the ‘five day check’ but was now called the Reception Review.

NT coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: File

“The time frame for its completion is no longer five days due to resourcing pressures (NT Health staff have not increased in line with the prison population), though a five day turnaround would be preferable,” Ms Armitage wrote.

This masthead contacted NT Health and Correctional Services to ask how long on average it was taking for prisoners to receive their Reception Review, and what the current ratio of NT Health staff to prisoners was, but both agencies said the questions were better directed to the other.

“Health services for people in prison in the Northern Territory are managed by NT Correctional Services, with specialist support provided by NT Health through consultant liaison and expert teams,” a health spokeswoman claimed.

“NT Health continues to work closely with NT Correctional Services to develop the best possible resourcing model to ensure prisoners receive quality health services.

“This applies to all current and proposed future correctional settings.”

However, NT Correctional Services said this was not correct.

“NT Health designs, delivers and manages all health services,” a spokeswoman said.

“As this query pertains to NT Health, NT Correctional Services does not have any further comment to provide.”

The Northern Territory has the highest imprisonment rate in Australia, at 1106.9 prisoners per 100,000 adults, compared to a national average of 202.3 per 100,000.