Ambulances crews called to Barlinnie 100 times a year
AMBULANCES have been sent on 999 calls to Barlinnie jail more than 100 times a year new figures show,
The prison has the highest number of emergency call outs of all Scotland’s jails.
Last year there were 115 emergency responses by ambulance crews to Barlinnie. In 2017 the figure was higher at 137 and the year before 111 call outs.
Across Scotland there were more than 2000 calls from jails for ambulance crews to respond to incidents.
The information provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service showed 319 of the cases were dealt with as “immediate life-threatening” situations and 201 were logged as “Category A”.
There were 22 “Category A” calls to Barlinnie last year
HMP Edinburgh had the second highest number of calls with 300 logged.
The figures were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives who said the total showed that security needs to be improved in the country’s jails.
Liam Kerr, Justice spokesman, said: “Prisons need to be absolutely secure and safe environments for both inmates and staff.
“It would be unrealistic to expect there to be no incidents, but it’s extremely worrying to discover that ambulances are having to attend 999 calls on such a regular basis.
“Many of these are considered life-threatening matters, so it’s clear security needs to improve inside Scotland’s jails.
“Paramedics are under enough pressure without having to make these trips into Scotland’s prison estate.”
The total included all jails including Young Offenders Institutions.
At Polmont YOI there were 88 ambulance calls in three years with 35 in the last year.
At Cornton Vale women’s prison there were 65 call outs with the number reducing from 31 in 2016 to 10 last year.
The Tories were concerned by the figures for Polmont, which houses young offenders aged between 16 and 21 with a capacity of more than 700 prisoners. The average length of sentence in between 2-4 years .
Mr Kerr added “It’s also of particular concern that so many emergency calls have come from Polmont, a youth facility which has not had its troubles to seek.
“I hope the SNP government can offer more support to the Scottish Prison Service to ensure there are far fewer incidents to which ambulances have to respond in future.”