Adult and youth inmates in NT struggle to access health care, doctors say

NT prisoner access to health care a 'huge challenge' according to Darwin doctors In short: NT custodial doctors say they have faced difficulties in accessing patients in Top End prisons. A senior lawyer says some prisoners have not been receiving their medication or been able to easily access a doctor. What's next? A corrections spokesperson said the department was working with NT Health to support safe and timely access to care. Some adult and youth prisoners in the Top End are struggling to access healthcare and medication amid soaring prisoner numbers in the NT, according to custodial doctors and a senior lawyer. Two custodial doctors working in Darwin and across the Top End were among dozens of presenters who spoke at a Centre for Disease Control conference in Darwin this week. The pair told the conference the sharp increase in prisoner numbers, which began under the former NT Labor government and accelerated after the Country Liberal Party took power in 2024, "creates huge challenges for looking after [their] patients". The exact period the doctors' concerns related to was not made clear in their presentation but the latest data shows the number of people behind bars in the NT has surged from about 1,800 in 2021 to more than 2,800 in June last year. One presenter, described as a long-standing prison doctor, said staffing pressures inside the Darwin Correctional Centre had also impacted the ability of medical practitioners to see their patients. "When a prisoner goes externally for a medical appointment, they usually need at least two officers to go with them," she said. "It's very time consuming, it takes officers off the block [and] could even cause a lockdown on the block because there's not enough officers left. "It limits the number who can go day to day, and we often have to cancel if we've got too many people going out in one day." A Department of Corrections spokesperson said escort requirements varied according to the prisoner's circumstances and it would "not be accurate to characterise external medical appointments as automatically resulting in lockdowns". "For example, the department's hospital in-patient procedures specify a minimum of two escorting officers for maximum, high, medium and low-security prisoners, while different arrangements apply to open-rated prisoners," they said. "The department manages staffing and prisoner activities daily to maintain safe and secure operations. "Where staffing levels fluctuate, activities or services may be modified in accordance with the operating model." The spokesperson said decisions about a prisoner's medical treatment were made by NT Health, which was supported by corrections in facilitating safe access to treatment and transfers to external health facilities. The spokesperson said the department recognised the "operational pressures associated with delivering health services" in custodial settings and continued to work with NT Health to support safe and timely access to prisoners, but questions about the adequacy of service provision should be directed to NT Health. NT Health was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline. Doctors exposed to 'moral injury' The doctor also told the conference the inability of health workers to see their patients on demand, including in youth detention, exposed both them and prison staff to "moral injury". "It reduces our ability to care and see these people and it's a cause of moral injury to us and to corrections," she said. "Some days we see very few people on our list, even when they're marked as high priority." Moral injury occurs when a person experiences psychological, social or spiritual damage when forced into a situation that violates their morals. Long-time senior Darwin lawyer and former president of the NT Bar Association, John Lawrence SC, said the doctors' concerns were echoed by his clients and their families in prison. "I'm hearing countless times from prisoners and their families that they haven't got their medication, they never get to see their doctor, it's just not happening," he said. Mr Lawrence described the conditions inside NT correctional facilities due to "gross overcrowding" as a "volcano". "We need to remind ourselves that the territory has the second highest imprisonment level in the world," he said. "The health obligations that the corrections department have are in no way being fulfilled, in my opinion."