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Written question asked by David Burrowes (Conservative) on Monday, 19 October 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 October 2015 (named day). It was answered by Ben Gummer (Conservative) on Thursday, 22 October 2015 on behalf of the Department of Health.


Prisons: Drugs

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances have been required to attend prisons as a result of emergency call-outs relating to (a) illegal drugs, (b) prescribed drugs and (c) psychoactive substances in the last 12 months.

Answer

Information about the frequency of emergency ambulance call-outs to prisons is not collected centrally by the Department or NHS England.


In February 2013, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) issued guidance to prisons and immigration removal centres operated by NOMS concerning emergency ambulance call-outs. This guidance, Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 03/2013 Medical Emergency Response Codes outlines the medical symptoms in a prisoner, but not behaviours such as drug misuse, for which a prison must always call out an emergency ambulance. This PSI is mandatory in all prisons in England.


A copy of the guidance is available at:


http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2013/psi-03-2013-medical-emergency-response-codes.doc




Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
12352
Session
2015-16
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Ambulance services Drugs Prisons
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk