The 2022 amendment to the Executive Penal Code introduced the possibility of providing health services to persons deprived of liberty in a new form. As of January 1, 2023, in accordance with Article 115 § 8a of the Penal Code, they may be provided to a convict via ICT or communication systems.
In this connection, ZRPO is asking the Deputy Director General of the SW, Lt. Gen. Renata Niziołek, how the provision of these medical services was organized.
It is especially about information:
- Has this form of providing medical services been implemented in all penitentiary units?
- Are they via Skype instant messaging, selfie camera or other means of communication?
- Where are the teleportations implemented and is the confidentiality of the conversations maintained?
- Is the doctor providing the teleportation present on the premises of the penitentiary unit and, if it is deemed necessary to admit the patient to the facility's outpatient clinic, will the convict be brought to the health room?
- Do physicians of all specialties who provide medical services on the premises of the penitentiary unit provide for the possibility of having consultations with them via teleportation?
The SW does not have the software to maintain electronic records, and thus to implement tele-torrents in a manner regulated by law, while ensuring the security of sensitive data or ensuring electronic identification, the prison service answers
Response from Gen. Piotr Sękowski, deputy director general of the SW
In connection with the inquiry contained in the letter dated January 26, 2024, (ref. IX.517.1670.2023.AP), regarding the provision of services by medical entities for persons deprived of liberty through ICT or communication systems on the backdrop of the amendments to the Executive Penal Code, I kindly inform you that health services are provided to persons deprived of liberty on the basis of Article 115 of the above law, to the extent necessary for them and in accordance with their current health needs and well-being.
At the outset, it should be noted that the genesis of the above provision was Article.14 ea of the now-defunct Law on Special Arrangements for Preventing, Countering and Combating COVID-19, Other Communicable Diseases and Emergencies Caused by Them, dated March 2, 2020. and a provision that reads : "During a state of epidemic emergency or a state of epidemic declared due to COVID-19, a doctor of a treatment facility for persons deprived of liberty may provide medical advice and order an examination (including a check-up) without having direct contact with the patient," however, during the legislative process, the content of the provision evolved without the Prison Service's influence on a thorough change.
The final provision limited the catalog of the method of providing medical services without direct contact with the patient only to telemedicine or teleinformation services - despite the provisions of Article 1.3 of the Law on Information System in Health Care of April 28, 2011. (Journal of Laws 2023, item 2465).
Moreover, in the context of the aforementioned provision, as well as Article 12a of the Act on health care services financed from public funds of August 27, 2004, (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2561), the Prison Service does not have the software to maintain electronic records, and thus to carry out telecommuting in the manner regulated by the law (i.e., min while ensuring the security of sensitive data or ensuring electronic identification).
The Prison Service would adopt as a reference for possible implementation the model created by the Ministry of Health, formulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Health on the Organizational Standard of Teleportation in Primary Health Care dated August 12, 2020. (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1194). It is extremely important to mention that, for the time being, the guaranteed benefit under the Act on publicly funded health care services is only teleportation provided as part of primary health care.
Although a project on specialized care was created in the Ministry of Health, it aroused deep opposition in the medical community and, as of now, is not functioning. Taking into account the provisions of § 4 of the Regulation of the Minister of Justice on the Provision of Health Services by Medical Entities for Persons Deprived of Liberty of June 14, 2012. (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2131), as well as the internal orders of individual penitentiary units, access to a primary care physician is provided to persons deprived of liberty on a continuous basis, so the need for telemedicine is not demonstrated in the above regard.
Finally, it should be noted that due to the introduction of Article 115 § 8a of the Penal Code.w, the Prison Service has taken measures using its own forces and resources to introduce a schematic tool in the central program "APTEKA", enabling the possible gradual implementation of providing medical services with the support of ICT solutions, but for the moment it is not used by the medical staff due to the preference for personal contact with the patient and the performance of a physical examination, as a form of service that gives the best view of the inmate's health situation, in accordance with the Code of Medical Ethics and the Law on the Profession of Physician and Dentist of December 5, 1996, (Dz.U. of 2023, item 1516).
Source: RPO
