OPERATIONAL police have been freed up to spend more time on duty as a result of changes to the way police provide medical care for prisoners in South Yorkshire.

Instead of the traditional method of using its own police surgeons, a year ago the force began outsourcing its forensic medical examiners from healthcare company Medacs instead.

The change has slashed the delay from the call for assistance to a surgeon turning up, with the current wait of around 37 minutes down from an average of 155 minutes previously.

That means officers have to spend less time on "sitting duties", where an officer is required to remain constantly outside a cell to monitor the condition of the prisoner inside until a doctor arrives.

Quicker response times mean the number of hours spent on those duties have fallen by 38 per cent, leaving officers with more time to perform other front line duties.

There has also been a reduction in the number of cases where "sitting duties" have been required at all. There are now on-site health care professionals at custody suites who make risk assessments in each case, meaning the number of prisoners who require sitters has fallen by around 20 per cent.

That alone is calculated to have saved the force the equivalent of £90,000 a year. The number of hours police were diverted from other duties to sit with prisoners needing medical help went down by 38 per cent, on 963 hours, compared to the previous 12 months.

Over the 12 months there were more than 13,000 calls for help and with the average wait reduced by 118 minutes, that had the potential to save more than 26,000 operation hours, according to a police report. Medacs was set a response time target to achieve 90 per cent of calls within 60 minutes after one year, which has been rising from 70 per cent since the contract started last year.

This target rate began at 70 per cent last September, increased to 80 per cent this March and reached 85 per cent in June. Medacs has never fallen below the monthly target set by police, and has exceeded it in 10 of the last 12 months.

But the report to the Audit Committee of South Yorkshire Police Authority, from Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes, said: "Performance has been good with the contractor exceeding milestones set. "There however is a concern that when the contract reaches the ultimate level of 90 per cent, due to increased demand the contractor may struggle to meet this."

South Yorkshire Police has therefore agreed for Medacs`s response target time to stay at 85 per cent for the moment, and not rise to 90 per cent. This will be reviewed again in three months.

The 13,337 calls that were attended in the first year is 20 per cent above the upper annual contract limit of 11,161. "Despite the increased demand, the contractor has been able to meet or exceed the main contractual targets in terms of timeliness of response to date," the report said. "An increase in demand does not automatically result in an increased payment to the contractor. Currently costs have been maintained within the original reported contract value."

The report from Chief Constable Hughes added that having qualified staff in the suites helped. "For example, a broken collar bone was detected by Medacs staff, having been missed by the hospital."

The outsourcing of forensic healthcare was first suggested to South Yorkshire Police by reports in 2003 and 2006. A coroner also recommended that the force should look at employing nurses within custody suites, during two inquests over deaths in police custody.

Source: Yourshire Post

WAITING times for police prisoners to see medics are improving, according to South Yorkshire's top cop.

A report prepared by Chief Constable Med Hughes says changes have been made to the way healthcare is provided in custody suites following two deaths in police custody in South Yorkshire and national guidance on the best way to keep prisoners safe. Under the old system custody suite staff had to ring around to find an available doctor. Now an organisation has been contracted to provide medics - sending response times dropping from an average of two hours to just 34 minutes in December.

A review of the old system found that in some cases it was taking up to five hours for medics to respond.

Medics - or police surgeons - assess detainees, set care plans and prescribe and administer medicine. They also look at the health and behaviour of prisoners for their own safety and to protect other detainees and staff. Medacs Healthcare took responsibility for providing medics in September.

A review of the first few months of operation found that in December alone medics were required to attend custody suites on 1,068 occasions.

The Chief Constable said: "Between September 1 2009 and November 30 2009, Medacs Healthcare were contracted to attend at least 70 per cent of calls within 60 minutes and they achieved 85 per cent in September and October and 88 per cent in November.

"Under the previous system, custody staff were required to make several telephone calls - in some cases lasting up to 30 minutes - to identify a police surgeon who was available to attend at the suite.

"Medacs Healthcare has a purpose-built call centre and South Yorkshire Police has a dedicated free telephone number, which results in telephone calls lasting approximately one minute.

"It was anticipated that the new contract would result in a reduction in the amount of constant supervision undertaken within the custody suites as vulnerable detainees were medically examined more speedily."

Between September 1 and December 31 last year there was a 29 per cent reduction in the amount of constant supervision undertaken, compared with the previous four months.