Inside the walls of Hawke's Bay Regional Prison, the health of 680 inmates is looked after by a 14-person team, who are "nursing behind the wire".
The team provide "some of the most challenging and vulnerable patients" with the same primary health care service as anyone else, except nearly half of this population have mental health conditions, and 32 per cent of them are drug dependent. Last night the work of Health Centre manager Linda Kroot, team leader Nicola Simmonds, and their 12 registered nurses was recognised with the teamwork award at the Hawke's Bay Health Sector International Nurses and Midwives Day awards.
The team are among the first prisoners see when they arrive. Inmates are triaged to address any immediate health needs, such as alcohol and drug withdrawal, and then booked for a health assessment.
Inside the centre's regular-looking treatment rooms everything is secured, with cupboard doors locked, and medical instruments attached to walls because "everything in a prison environment has another use", Ms Kroot said.
She said the challenges presented by the "unique" environment mean teamwork was paramount. Nurses needed to be consistent, and in constant communication so none were signalled out as being "the nice one".