Department of Health and Social Care

“The responsibility for healthcare in police custody suites will however soon transfer from individual police authorities to NHS England. Healthcare for persons in police custody will therefore be commissioned to NHS standards of care. This should lead to more consistent and improved healthcare standards, by ensuring that the same range and quality of substance misuse services are available to persons in police custody as would be available in prison or community settings.”

“G4S Forensic and Medical Service are responsible for the provision of medical services to Hertfordshire Police as defined in a specific contract written by Hertfordshire Police ("the Contract"), which does not at this time, provide for putting a dedicated substance misuse team into each of the police stations served by the Contract”

“We do however take our duty of care for the welfare of detainees very seriously and provide medical care in custody which effectively triages our detainees to assess that they are fit to be detained and are kept safe.”

“I expect all healthcare professionals working in local Trusts to be fully trained and aware of the existing protocols in their local Trust. It is for local healthcare organisations to ensure that all staff are trained to the appropriate standard.”

“The LAS have reviewed the matter and I hope that you find the following explanation helpful: Purpose of needle chest decompression Needle Chest Decompression forms an important part of the management of chest trauma in the pre hospital environment by paramedic staff.”

“work is already being taken forward. In July 2012 a report entitled National early warning score (NEWS); standardising the assessment of acute-illness severity in the NHS, was published by the Royal College of Physicians.”

“The system operational in a Birmingham Trust depends on patient observations being recorded in the Patient Information Communication System (PICS), the Trust's rules-based clinical information, drug prescribing and administration system. As observations are entered an early warning score is generated. Depending on the score generated and the settings programmed, an automatic message can be sent to designated nursing and medical staff.”

“I therefore propose to share this case with the CQC so that they can consider whether adequate arrangements for access to emergency departments need to be part of the inspection portfolio for such organisations”