2023-10-19 19:38:49
Behind prison bars, how is the health of inmates taken care of? If they are deprived of their liberty, their right to access to care continues. The documentary “Healing in Prison”directed by Adrien Morcuende, from CHU network medialifts part of the veil, by filming the daily work of Priscilla, doctor at the Bordeaux Gradignan penitentiary center and Delphine, nurse at the interregional secure hospital unit of Pellegrin Hospital (Bordeaux University Hospital). He followed them in February 2023, assisted by Océane Rolland for the images and by Timothée Bahuaud for the editing.
Mattress on the floor and back pain
In this 26-minute documentary, for example, we see an inmate complaining of severe back pain. He has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for fifteen months (out of nineteen of his detention) alongside two other detainees, crammed into the same cell. Gradignan prison is one of the most overcrowded in France, with more than 800 people incarcerated for 430 places. “We have reaction pathologies to detention, somatic or psychiatric. On the somatic side, we have a lot of people who have back pain, low back pain or back pain, these are things we see every day,” comments Priscilla.
To relieve the pain, the detainee leaves with anti-inflammatories, if the pain persists, he can see a physiotherapist, but within times which “are much longer than outside because all traumatic pathologies are very represented here, specifies the doctor. And we only have 0.7 full-time equivalents in physiotherapy, which is insufficient compared to the population we treat.” Another ailment that is frequently found in prison is constipation. Here too, overpopulation aggravates the problem. “There are up to three of them in 7 to 9 m2 and the privacy area is very limited, it’s not necessarily easy,” adds Priscilla.
“Patients first”
This young doctor who chose to work in a prison environment after an internship which excited her, carries out entry consultations with prisoners, where she discusses their criminal situation. Without addressing the facts themselves, with some exceptions, they have the opportunity to vent because they are sometimes angry. “It is enveloping, without being mothering,” comments director Adrien Morcuende, former journalist at France TV. It’s important what she says about this space of freedom where prisoners have the possibility of saying no to treatment, even if the caregivers’ job is to offer it again at another time.”
The director says that the floor of the interregional secure hospital unit of the Pellegrin hospital is an orange color, which marks the prison authority and that in the consultation spaces, they are blue. Materializing a sort of small medical enclave in this prison universe. In this unit, which accommodates heavier patients requiring hospital care and/or hospitalization, caregivers are instructed not to turn their backs on the patients, and not to position themselves between the bed and the window. Within this specialized hospital structure, there is an oculus which allows supervisors to keep an eye on the consultation, and to intervene in the event of a problem. But, they do not hear what the doctor and the patient say to each other, to preserve the relationship of trust and the obligation of confidentiality attached to medical information.
But beyond these recommendations, “for these caregivers, they are patients above all,” believes Adrien Morcuende. It’s a medical space, with confidentiality maintained.” The documentary, which gives voice to “the words of caregivers that we never see,” is freely available on YouTube. The director hopes to soon be able to deal with the care of women prisoners.
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