[2018] IEHC 635
THE HIGH COURT
[2018 No. 9 J.R.P.]
DAMIEN QUINN
APPLICANT
AND
THE GOVERNOR OF LIMERICK PRISON
RESPONDENT
JUDGMENT of Mr. Justice Allen delivered on the 6th day of November, 2018
1. This is an application by Damien Quinn, a prisoner in Limerick prison, for leave to apply by way of judicial review for an order of mandamus directed to the Governor of Limerick prison to transfer him to hospital for psychiatric treatment.
2. The applicant's account of events is not entirely clear in some respects but I am satisfied that I understand the substance.
3. The applicant was first sent to prison upwards of three and a half years ago. He was sent first to Limerick prison and after a year or so was transferred to Cork.
4. On 4th May, 2017 the applicant's solicitor, Mr. Darach McCarthy, wrote to the Governor of Cork prison that the applicant had been in regular contact with him regarding his health concerns and had left a number of distressed telephone messages with Mr. McCarthy's staff asking that Mr. McCarthy should contact him. Mr. McCarthy reported that the applicant was gravely concerned that there had been a significant deterioration of his health and was bringing this to notice in the hope that the Governor would ensure that the applicant was receiving all the appropriate and necessary medical treatment that he required and had been fully assessed with regard to his medical needs.
5. Mr. McCarthy followed up by letter dated 24th May, 2017 asking for confirmation that all that could be done was being done for the applicant.
6. On 21st March, 2018 the applicant left a message for Mr. McCarthy that his father had been on to medical staff at Cork prison and had been told that the applicant should be in hospital. The applicant said that his father had been on to the psychiatrist, who was said to have said the same thing. It was said that the psychiatrist had attempted to get a bed for the applicant in the Cork hospital but because the applicant was not from Cork, they were unable to facilitate him. The applicant asked if Mr. McCarthy would write to the psychiatrist, Dr. Eugene Morgan, and the Governor.
7. On 4th April, 2018 Mr. McCarthy wrote to Dr. Morgan. He said that the applicant had told him that the medical professionals had deemed it necessary for him to be treated in a hospital setting. Mr. McCarthy asked Dr. Morgan to confirm whether that was in fact the case and what efforts were being made in that regard.
8. Dr. Morgan appears to have sent Mr. McCarthy the psychiatric notes on the applicant and on 26th April, 2018 Mr. McCarthy wrote to the Governor of Cork prison attaching a copy of the psychiatric notes, which were said to have been entered on the relevant prison system on 17th April, 2018.
9. The medical notes recorded that Dr. Morgan had examined the applicant on 12th April, 2018 and had found him " despondent re continuous placement and not improving ". Dr. Morgan recorded that the applicant had been " made aware of my endeavours to place him in Limerick to facilitate contact with local services and possible admission. Needs visit from family ." This note certainly recorded concern on the part of Dr. Morgan but it was short of confirming what the applicant had conveyed to Mr. McCarthy's office on 21st March, 2018 namely that Dr. Morgan had tried but failed to get him a bed in hospital in Cork.
10. In a note of 13th April, 2018 Dr. Morgan recorded " concern remains. Admin to be contacted re transfer urgently." In a note of 17th April, 2018 Dr. Morgan recorded " As requested the appropriate placement is Limerick prison for this man in my opinion to facilitate visits and placement in his psychiatric sector. This request has been made multiple times and also highlighted to the director of services. Advised chief officer once again today of my opinion."
11. Mr. McCarthy in his letter of 26th April, 2018 suggested to the Governor of Cork prison, quite correctly, that the psychiatric notes indicated that the applicant required an immediate and urgent transfer to Limerick prison to allow his psychiatric needs to be facilitated. He asked for confirmation by return that such a transfer was taking place, failing which the applicant might be compelled to take legal action to compel such a transfer. Mr. McCarthy appears to have followed up with an email of 30th April, 2018, which I do not have.
12. On 8th May, 2018 the applicant was seen by Dr. Morgan. Dr. Morgan's note records that the applicant was: " In bed in the VPU. No change in presentation. We are aware of his situation and that he is eager to be transferred to Limerick prison and ultimately Limerick hospital setting. Ongoing contact with Mr. Quinn's solicitor and IPS staff with regard to possible transfer to Limerick."
13. Again the applicant's eagerness for a transfer to hospital is recorded but not endorsed by Dr. Morgan.
14. On 9th May, 2018 Mr. McCarthy wrote to the Governor of Cork prison expressing disappointment that he had not had an answer to his email of 30th April and threatened court proceedings to oblige the prison service to comply with the directions of the treating officer. The Governor replied by email of 11th May, 2018, which I do not have, apparently confirming that he would revert to Mr. McCarthy as soon as possible.
15. On 21st May, 2018 Mr. McCarthy wrote to the Governor protesting that his letters of 30th April and 9th May were being ignored or not addressed appropriately. He demanded confirmation by close of business on the following Friday either that the applicant would be transferred to Limerick prison, or, preferably, that he had been. Mr. McCarthy appears not to have had a response and on 6th June, 2018 emailed the Governor expressing his disappointment and threatening an application to the High Court on the following Monday failing confirmation within 48 hours of the applicant's transfer to Limerick prison.
16. On either 3rd or 13th June (I think it was probably 13th June) the applicant wrote directly to the Governor of Cork prison. The applicant protested that it had been six (sic.) months since Dr. Morgan had requested his transfer to Limerick. He said that his weight had decreased from thirteen stone to nine and a half stone and that he was getting sick every day. He said that his solicitor had written many letters telling the Governor of Dr. Morgan's notes and that he was in fear of his mental and physical wellbeing. He asserted that his human rights had been infringed and that his health had deteriorated to the point that he could not clean his own cell. He expressed the belief that he should be sent to hospital urgently before he got any worse and lost his life. Everything, he said, was on his notes. He asked for a copy of the letter to be sent back to him so that he could send it to his solicitor.
17. On a date which is not apparent in June 2018 the applicant was transferred from Cork prison to Limerick prison.
18. On 29th June, 2018 Mr. McCarthy wrote to Dr. Gulati in Limerick prison. He enclosed Dr. Morgan's notes and asked that the applicant should receive appropriate assistance in Limerick prison and, as might appear necessary, hospital treatment. Mr. McCarthy conveyed the applicant's grave concern that his psychiatric needs were not being met and that his condition was deteriorating rapidly.
19. The applicant's statement of grounds runs to five pages, much of which is devoted to his efforts to secure a transfer from Cork to Limerick.
20. The applicant recounts that when he was first sent to prison upwards of three and a half years ago, he was sent to Limerick. After a year or so, he was transferred to Cork.
21. The applicant says that when he was returned to Limerick in June 2018 the psychiatrist refused to send him to hospital. He says that he has been seen twice by the psychiatrist and that he lodged a complaint with the Governor of Limerick prison.
22. The applicant says that a few days before he was transferred to Limerick, he was seen by the head nurse from Dublin, who he identifies as Enda Kenny, who told him that there was a medical plan in place for him in Limerick. He says that when he was seen by the psychiatrist in Limerick, the psychiatrist told him that he was a sentenced prisoner and would not be going to hospital. He says repeatedly that he fears for his life.
23. The applicant says that about two and half weeks before making this application he was called in to see the Governor and a nurse, Ms. Blueit, and told that he would not be going for treatment but was not given a reason.
24. The applicant invokes his human rights and attaches to his application a statement from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. He submits that the state must secure prisoners' health and wellbeing, and he says that he is being tortured to death.
25. I accept, of course, the applicant's submission that as a prisoner he has a right to bodily integrity, which means that his right to health must be protected as well as is reasonably possible in the circumstances.
26. The statement from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission references rule 102 of the Prison Rules which requires that if the Governor is told that a prisoner requests or is in need of medical attention, he must pass this information onto the prison doctor or nurse who must then assess the prisoner as soon as is practicable. I do not have a copy of any written request by the applicant to the Governor of Limerick prison for medical attention but, on the applicant's case, he was seen by the Governor and the nurse at the beginning of October 2018.
27. On the material before me, there does appear to have been quite a long delay between Dr. Morgan's recommendation that the applicant be tranferred from Cork to Limerick but that was eventually done.
28. Dr. Morgan's recommendation was that the applicant be transferred. He was certainly contemplating the possibility of an admission but did not decide that admission to hospital was necessary.
29. Since June 2018 the applicant has been in the care of the medical staff attached to Limerick prison. It is clear that he has been psychiatrically reviewed twice and that in the last month his case was reviewed by the Governor in consultation with Nurse Blueit. I accept that the applicant believed he needs to go to hospital but the assessment of the applicant's medical needs must be a matter in the first instance for his doctors. The applicant has been told by the psychiatrist in Limerick that he will not be going to hospital. There is nothing to cause me to doubt that the recommendation of the psychiatrist is that the applicant does not need to go to hospital.
30. In short, I have no basis to doubt that the applicant is getting the medical attention he needs.
31. On the material before me, I must refuse the applicant's application for leave.
