Prison staff nurses have been required to rule on whether a convict is fit for transportation. They are concerned that by stepping into the authority of doctors, they may be overstepping their authority. Moreover, this violates the prisoner's right to be examined by a doctor beforehand.
Nurses are overstepping their authority because there is a shortage of doctors. They fear the consequences...
Published Nov. 9, 2023 09:19
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RPO Marcin Wiącek asked Director General of the Prison Service Gen. Insp. Jacek Kitlinski for his position on the issue.
The RPO's office is conducting an investigation into the performance of reserved for physicians, i.e., transport acceptances of a convict by female nurse officers. As indicated by those concerned, according to the transport instructions in effect in prisons, nurses were required to provide information to other departments as to whether an inmate was fit for transport.
Such an obligation arises from § 6(1) of the Regulation of the Minister of Justice of June 14, 2012 on the provision of health services by medical entities for persons deprived of liberty. In accordance with it, subjective (medical history) and physical (physical) examinations shall be carried out on a person deprived of liberty before he is transported or released from prison.
The transport instructions state that the acceptance should be done by the head of the infirmary or an officer designated by him. Since there is a shortage of doctors in the SW, nurses employed on an officer's staff are obliged by verbal orders to make these acceptances and rule on whether the convict is fit for transport.
According to the officers, the adjudication of a detainee's medical condition has been reserved for doctors, and such orders may be unlawful. According to Article 42(1) of the Law of December 5, 1996 on the Profession of Physician and Dentist, it is the doctor who decides on the health of a certain person after first examining him in person or examining him through teleinformation or communication systems, as well as after analyzing available medical records. And a convict serving a sentence of imprisonment does not have the right to choose a doctor and nurse.
Nurse officers are concerned that obliging them - as part of a verbal order of duty - to adjudicate a prisoner's medical condition violates his right to be examined by a doctor before transport. By encroaching on doctors' authority, they may be overstepping their authority. In turn, they may expose themselves to criminal, disciplinary and civil liability if the convict's health deteriorates during transport.
Source: RPO
