Inmates ‘health carers’
Sick female prisoner has no qualified help
A PORT Douglas woman, who is a prisoner at the Townsville Womens Correctional Centre, is forced to rely on other inmates for daily assistance.
Jill Patience Skinner suffers from degenerative health issues and requires daily personal care.
Last month she went into custody after a Cairns Su- preme Court jury found her guilty of attempting to import a border controlled substance into Australia.
A package containing just over two kilograms of methylamphetamine, worth about $200,000 wholesale, had been addressed to her, which she was to receive for a friend for money. Supreme Court Justice James Henry asked Queensland Corrective Services how it would manage Skinner’s medical conditions.
“Ms Skinner does not have access to a trained or qualified carer at Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre,” he said.
Another prisoner was employed full time as her carer to help with showering, dressing, moving about the complex and sometimes feeding.
“Other prisoners are reluctant to take on the position … or remain long term due to the demanding nature of the work and not knowing her,” Justice Henry said.
She will remain in custody until November 11 serving four months of a two and a half year sentence and be released on a good behaviour bond.
“The material tends to suggest ... that Corrective Services, I infer because of funding issues, does not have the capacity to manage your medical conditions as well as would occur were you ... within the community,” Justice Henry said.
“It is not an entirely surprising reality that the executive arm of the government doesn’t commit funds with the same priority to a task of this kind as applied to other areas of priority … or at least other areas the executive perceives the taxpayers consider to be a priority.”
A Queensland Corrective Services spokesman confirmed that in some cases prisoners were employed as carers for other prisoners.
“This is only done after careful vetting and includes ongoing assessment and review,” they said.