Inspectors find healthcare failures for police custody detainees at Elgin site
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AN INSPECTION of north-east police custody centres has found healthcare provision at the Elgin site does not adequately meet the needs of detainees.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) found Elgin's healthcare arrangements to be inconsistent, according to a report published on Tuesday, December 14.
An unannounced inspection to assess the treatment of and conditions for individuals detained in police custody centres was undertaken by HMICS in September.
North East Police Division is served by three primary centres – Elgin, Fraserburgh and Kittybrewster in Aberdeen.
Inspectors also noted the Elgin custody centre was in need of refurbishment.
However, Police Scotland does have a plan in place to upgrade facilities next year.
In one of three main recommendations following the visits, HMICS said: "Police Scotland should continue to engage with the responsible health boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure that a consistent, accessible and quality healthcare service is provided to the Elgin custody centre as soon as possible."
On healthcare for detainees, the HMICS report said: "In terms of the model in place at the time of our inspection, Elgin custody staff were required to contact the healthcare nurse on duty at Kittybrewster in the first instance, who would then contact either Dr Gray's Hospital, in Elgin, during working hours or Grampian Medical Emergency Department (GMED) out of hours, to arrange for a healthcare professional to examine the detainee.
"However, this invariably resulted in custody staff being informed that no one was available to attend and they were often advised to arrange for the detainee to be conveyed (by local policing officers) to their own GP's surgery, which could be anywhere in Morayshire; to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin or to Kittybrewster custody centre – a round trip of 130 miles.
"Alternatively, detainees could be transported to hospital in Inverness (a different health board area) in order to access services."
Inspectors analysed a sample of custody records relating to 30 detainees, assessed the physical environment, interviewed detainees, custody staff and other professionals, and observed key processes.
Overall, however, the report said a culture of minimising the detention of individuals within the three main centres was well established and used appropriately.
They found that individuals were only detained when it was absolutely necessary, and that detention was appropriately authorised in all cases reviewed.
HMICS commended the professional approach of custody staff who, it said, made well-informed decisions to determine whether detention was required and to reduce the time detainees spent in custody.
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Gill Imery QPM said: "A reduction, in the past year, in the total number of people detained can be partly attributed to the pandemic but also to Police Scotland's positive approach to divert people away from custody through working more closely with partners to address reoffending by tackling the underlying causes and referring people to a range of services."
Mrs Imery added: "Police custody is a high-risk area of policing business and, as such, has been subject to considerable scrutiny by HMICS since Police Scotland was established, with nine inspection reports being published.
"Police Scotland has made considerable progress in implementing recommendations and improvement actions in respect of custody services and are actively working to address those that remain outstanding."
