CSD bids to double staff at Siu Lam
THE Correctional Services Department (CSD) hopes to double staff at Siu Lam psychiatric centre for mentally-ill inmates.
Last Friday, a coroner's jury urged the CSD to review manpower at the centre after passing a verdict of suicide on a convicted killer who hanged himself in his cell.
The centre has 46 CSD officers with psychiatric nursing training to look after 255 inmates. Of the inmates, 150 were admitted under the Mental Health Ordinance for mental treatment as well as detention for criminal offences.
Three inmates have committed suicide this year, and there have been eight attempts.
Until recently, the CSD has denied it was short of the staff. The Health Panel of the Legislative Council has been pressing the CSD for a solution.
A source said the department would put the proposal to Legco at the end of this year in a bid to double the number of nurses to 92.
To reach the target, the department will increase the quota of CSD officers getting psychiatric training provided by the Hospital Authority. It would also recruit psychiatric nurses from the private sector.
The dual role of the psychiatric centre as a treatment centre and a prison has been causing a great deal of stress and dissatisfaction to its staff.
According to one CSD officer, the treatment role was often compromised by custodial reasons and had eroded efforts to help recovery of the inmates. He believed the proposal to double staff was just another management gimmick.
Some CSD officers had been posted out of the centre since May, he said.
Both the chairman and vice-chairman of the Legco Health Panel welcomed the proposal.
