The Government can confirm that a prisoner was moved from the Roy Fagan Centre yesterday due to threats made against him on social media.
The prisoner is question was at the Roy Fagan on medical advice.
The Corrections Act authorises the transfer of prisoners to appropriate hospitals or medical facilities when it is necessary for the healthcare of a prisoner, recognising that the inpatient facility at the Risdon Prison Complex is not designed or equipped to deal with every serious injury or condition, particularly those that are life threatening.
The Labor-Green Government in 2013 approved the Roy Fagan Centre for use as a hospital or institution to care for prisoners for exactly this reason.
In the final two years of the previous government there were more than 800 overnight admissions of prisoners to an approved hospital or institution – including a prisoner serving a sentence for murder being placed in Roy Fagan Centre in 2013.
It is therefore incredibly hypocritical for Mr Green to suggest something untoward occurred when a prisoner received healthcare at the Roy Fagan Centre when this had been identified by health professionals as the appropriate facility for that individual.
However, Mr Green went further and stated that the Government should have intervened in the healthcare decision made by medical professionals and blocked access to the recommended medical care for a particular prisoner. Such an action would be highly inappropriate and indeed breach the Government’s duty of care.
Importantly, security assessments are always undertaken when transferring a prisoner to a medical facility for healthcare.