Decision Report 201302414

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that the prison health centre unreasonably stopped his pain medication. He said he was prescribed the medication whilst he was in the community and it was the only type that helped his pain. The health centre had checked with Mr C's community doctor who confirmed he was being prescribed the medication. However, they then decided Mr C did not need the medication and prescribed him something else for his pain. Mr C told us he had tried many other types of medication but none of them helped.

We took independent advice on Mr C's complaint from one of our medical advisers. He felt that the prison health centre did not appear to have undertaken a detailed assessment of Mr C's circumstances. In his opinion, the information available suggested Mr C had tried various types of reasonable pain relief but they had been unsuitable. In addition, our adviser noted that the medication the health centre were refusing to prescribe was likely to be suitable for the type of pain Mr C was experiencing. In light of the information available to us, and having accepted this advice, we upheld Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

• undertake an appropriate review of Mr C's clinical need for the pain relief he requested.