Admission to Prisons Hospital: Ministry orders strict criteria

9 September 2017 02:19 pm

It has been made mandatory with immediate effect that any prison inmate seeking admission to the prisons hospital will have to get the consent of three doctors, Prison Reforms Minister D.M. Swaminathan said yesterday.

Minister Swaminathan said following complaints received by several parties alleging misconduct and favours granted to special political inmates, the ministry had ordered Prisons Commissioner General H.M.N.C.Dhanasinghe to make mandatory the consent of three prison doctors.

According to the order, special consent of the doctor in charge at the Prisons and the OPD doctor would be sought while the ward doctor has to diagnose and recommend the inmate for in-house treatment.

"The diagnose reports should be submitted to the Ministry for further investigations by the ministry," he said.

Ministry Spokesperson Dumidu Bandara told the Daily Mirror that the measure was taken with the intention of preventing unnecessary admissions of political and high profile inmates to the Prisons Hospital. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)