The Fiji Corrections Service will centralize its clinical services, marking a significant advancement in the efficiency and accessibility of medical care for inmates.

This initiative is part of FCS’s ongoing strategy to minimize prisoner transfers to public hospitals, and ensuring secure, timely medical attention.

As part of this strategy, FCS has employed three nurse practitioners who will play a critical role in delivering clinical care.

Three fully operational clinics have been established in Naboro, Suva, and Lautoka, staffed by experienced nurses who have transitioned from correctional institutions.

These clinics will serve as central points for medical assessments and treatment, ensuring that inmates receive high-quality care within FCS facilities.

The FCS in a statement says historically, the frequent referrals of inmates to public hospitals for treatment presented significant challenges in terms of security, including risks of escape and the potential for contraband smuggling.

To address this, establishing a dedicated medical unit will now oversee all inmate medical referrals.

Under this new process, inmates will initially be attended to by FCS’s trained and qualified institutional medical orderlies.

Based on their observations, these orderlies will refer inmates to nurses and nurse practitioners at our clinics for further evaluation.

If necessary, qualified medical officers, hired with the assistance of the Ministry of Health, will provide additional care.

Under this new arrangement, prisoners requiring medical attention will first be referred to the FCS clinics for comprehensive assessments.
Hospital referrals will now be made solely at the discretion of the FCS medical unit, significantly reducing unnecessary external hospital visits.