Care or custody? An evaluation of palliative care in prisons in North West England.
This study aimed to evaluate health professionals' views about palliative care provision in prisons in the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire in the North West of England. Seventeen prison healthcare staff and nine specialist palliative care staff participated in semi-structured interviews and 16 prison healthcare staff completed a questionnaire designed to measure knowledge, skills and confidence in relation to palliative care. The findings highlighted tensions between the philosophies of care and custody, and the many challenges in providing palliative care in a custodial setting. This paper presents two illustrative case study examples, and suggests ways in which some of these challenges can be overcome in practice.
International Observatory on End of Life Care, Division of Health Research, Bowland Tower East, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YT, UK. j.m.turner@lancaster.ac.uk
Mary
M
Turner
Sheila
S
Payne
Zephyrine
Z
Barbarachild
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration; D004739:England; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008509:Medication Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011330:Prisons / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards