GPS strengthens healthcare with addition of Medex Falane Grant

To enhance healthcare services for both inmates and staff, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) has welcomed Medex Falane Grant to its healthcare team.
With a wealth of experience gained from a rigorous five-year training programme, Medex Grant is set to play a pivotal role in advancing healthcare across various prison locations. Her notable background includes serving at prominent healthcare institutions such as the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the New Amsterdam Hospital, and several health centres nationwide.
Director of Prisons, Nicklon Elliot, has expressed enthusiasm in welcoming Medex Grant to the GPS. Acknowledging the unique challenges of providing healthcare within a prison setting, given the distinctive conditions that accompany imprisonment, Elliot has emphasized that despite these challenges, the commitment of the GPS is to ensure that prisoners receive healthcare services of a standard comparable to what obtains in the wider community.

Elliot elaborated on the range of healthcare services provided within the prison system, including counselling, mental health support, screening, and substance misuse services.
Noting the importance of prisoners actively participating in their healthcare, Elliot has emphasized the responsibility to request and schedule healthcare appointments and adhere to prescribed medication regimens.
This comes just after Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has said there would be a shift in Government’s approach to the prison system this year. The focus now is on avoiding physical punishment for prisoners, and encouraging their active participation in self-development, self-improvement, and rehabilitation.
There are other initiatives planned for the prison system for 2024, among which are: providing better nutrition; facilitating more family visits; constructing educational facilities for regular and vocational education; and addressing the issue of prisoners sleeping on the ground at the Lusignan Prison.
Efforts to enhance safe housing for prisoners are ongoing, with two more modules planned, Benn said, as he reiterated that a new prison is under construction at Lusignan specifically for female inmates. The minister also recommitted to improving conditions at the New Amsterdam Prisons.
The Mazaruni Prison is nearing completion of overdue modules, expected to finish in the first quarter of 2024.
Changes in incarceration procedures are also anticipated at Timehri, Benn added, saying that there has been a significant shift involving mandating that 50 per cent of prisoners’ food be grown by them, thus promoting self- sustainability.
The Prison Service has also initiated a ‘fresh start’ programme in which suitable prisoners would be provided with resources to start a small business upon their release, with the aim being to reduce recidivism.
Benn has acknowledged the considerable work ahead, but has expressed determination to make substantial improvements in the prison system this year. (G9)