Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989

Valid from 01/01/1998

[F1 3A Medical services in prisons. S

(1) Without prejudice to section 11(2) of this Act, the Secretary of State shall secure the provision of appropriate medical services within prisons.

(2) The Secretary of State may perform the duty imposed by subsection (1) above by—

(a) appointing for a prison one or more medical officers, each of whom shall be a registered medical practitioner;

(b) entering into an arrangement with any person for the provision of appropriate medical services in relation to any prison or prisons; or

(c) both making any such appointment as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above and by entering such an arrangement as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above.

(3) In this section “appropriate medical services” means such services in relation to—

(a) routine and emergency health care for prisoners; and

(b) the provision of advice to the governor on matters related to the medical treatment and health of prisoners generally,

as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the prison in which they are to be provided; and such services shall be provided by or under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner.

(4) Any medical officer appointed under subsection (2)(a) above shall, for the purposes of this Act, be an officer of the prison.

(5) A registered medical practitioner providing, or supervising the provision of, appropriate medical services in accordance with an arrangement made under subsection (2)(b) above shall be deemed to be a medical officer for the prison for the purposes of—

(a) section 27(5) of this Act (so far as that section continues to have effect by virtue of Schedule 6 to the M1 Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 (existing provisions which continue to have effect in relation to prisoners sentenced before 1st October 1993)); and

(b) any rules or directions made or issued under section 39 of this Act;

unless such rules or directions otherwise provide or the context otherwise requires.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, rules under section 39 of this Act may make provision for the governor to authorise the carrying out by officers of the prison of a search of any person who is in or is seeking to enter the prison for the purpose of providing appropriate medical services in accordance with an arrangement made under subsection (2)(b) above.

(7) Nothing contained in rules made by virtue of subsection (6) above shall permit the governor to authorise an officer of a prison to require a person to remove any of his clothing other than an outer coat, jacket, headgear, gloves and footwear.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 3A inserted (1.1.1998 with application as mentioned in s. 33(1)-(8) of the amending Act) by 1997 c. 48, s. 43(2); S.I. 1997/2323, art. 4, Sch. 2

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 3A modified (18.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/2251, art. 16(2)

Marginal Citations

M1 1993 c.9.