Decision Report 201607622

Summary

Ms C complained about a number of aspects of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS)' management of her. She complained that the SPS:

held her in an unsuitable cell when she was on Act 2 Care (the suicide risk management policy)

acted unreasonably in relation to an incident when she was attempting suicide

unreasonably removed her from Act 2 Care

failed to acknowledge and manage her risk when she raised concerns about her wellbeing on one occasion

unreasonably left her unsupervised with a sharp object

We found that, in relation to acknowledging and managing Ms C's risk when she raised concerns about her wellbeing on one occasion, the SPS had failed to assess Ms C's risk reasonably at this point and failed to follow their own 'Talk to Me' policy (which replaced Act 2 Care). Therefore, we upheld this aspect of Ms  C's complaint. However, in relation to Ms C's other four complaints, we found that the SPS had acted reasonably and we did not uphold these aspects.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Ms C for failing to appropriately acknowledge and manage her risk after she raised concerns about her wellbeing. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/leaflets-and-guidance.

What we said should change to put things right in future:

• The 'Talk to Me' strategy should be adhered to in relation to assessments.