HIV Patients made Prisoners
posted: 03/05/2011
NHS consultants say that security measures imposed by the UK Border Agency have turned Hillingdon hospital’s HIV clinic into a prison.
Hillingdon hospital in west London, is the nearest to Heathrow airport, and some of the people with HIV that it treats are detained at nearby immigration removal centres, who are brought to the hospital for treatment.
Patient cuffed to guard
The problems began when an immigration guard who had handcuffed a patient to him refused to remove the handcuffs so the man could be treated in privacy. When the guard refused to uncuff the man the doctors refused to treat him and made a formal incident report to the hospital’s medical director. That’s a serious formal complaint, and it concerns inhuman and degrading treatment.
Clinic windows barred - a prison for all
Officials from the UK Border Agency then fitted restraints on the windows at the hospital's sexual health clinic to ensure that detainees could not escape.
HIV specialist Ben Holden, a consultant at the hospital, said: "The unit is now a prison for us all. Our windows only open two inches but UKBA have installed chunky locks on them. We were told they would bring removable window restraints but these are permanent.
No attempts to escape
"No detainee has ever absconded or attempted to abscond. As doctors we believe that to keep immigration detainees restrained or locked in is discriminatory. I don't want to be part of a process that treats people in a less than human way."
Doctors are angry that immigration detainees who have committed no crime, approximately half of whom are later released, are treated in this way.
Deported without needed HIV drugs
An audit conducted at Hillingdon hospital also revealed that none of the detainees removed from the UK were dispatched from the UK with a full three month supply of anti-retroviral drugs (in accordance with British HIV Association / National Aids Trust guidelines). They left without an adequate tide-them-over drug supply because in many cases doctors at the hospital are not told by UKBA before people are removed from the UK. UKBA frequently cancel clinic appointments and some HIV-positive patients were removed before they were even seen at the hospital.
British HIV Association 'disappointed'
Professor Jane Anderson, chair of the British HIV Association, said: "BHIVA and the National Aids Trust have developed advice on appropriate HIV treatment and care for people in the immigration removal system, and we are disappointed to hear that this advice is not always being followed. We want to see the highest standards of care for everyone with HIV in the UK. Any factors that make the provision of high quality clinical care difficult give us cause for concern."
Emma Ginn, co-ordinator of the charity Medical Justice – which recently published Detained and Denied, a report cataloguing examples of poor medical treatment of HIV-positive detainees in the UK – said: "Along with the potentially lethal medical abuse they suffer in detention centres, detainees are suffering sub-human conditions in hospital."
Window bars excused
The UK Border Agency said: "We have agreed the installation of window locks for detainee treatment with Hillingdon hospital and are working with them to address the concerns now raised. Detainees are only handcuffed when absolutely necessary and they are not handcuffed during treatment.”
"The welfare of detainees is important but this must always be balanced with the security of the detainees and the public. Detainees have round-the-clock access to healthcare services to discuss their medication needs."
Hospital’s story
A spokesman for the Hillingdon hospitals NHS foundation trust said: "The UK Border Agency has told us that they do not believe our open ward environment is suitable for the treatment of individuals who may be failed asylum seekers and under restraint. However, a large proportion of the patients who are brought to our sexual health department by the agency are later discharged into the community and are not subject to the criminal law.
"We have agreed a temporary measure with the Border Agency to put discreet bars on windows in the unit, but we are continuing to negotiate an agreement with the agency that will offer a solution that allows us to treat all our patients with respect."
George House Trust would point out that Hillingdon hospital has allowed the UKBA to fit restriction devices onto its hospital clinic windows. It was under no legal obligation to treat all its sexual health clinic patients and staff in this way. And handcuffing patients is very rarely justifiable and hospitals must always consider alternatives or risk legal action under the Human Rights Act.
The NHS Constitution seems to have been ignored by the hospital - it says
"You should always be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with your human rights. This means, for example, that your right to privacy should be respected."
Complaining is far more difficult for people using Foundation Trusts like Hillingdon Hospital – there is no independent body to represent patients and help with complaints, Hillingdon’s website won’t even let you download its complaints leaflet and you will wait many months for the Ombudsman to deal with any complaint.
NHS complaints advice
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