Prison spends thousands every year on TAXIS to ferry lags just 150 yards across the road to a hospital
Prison Service defends its actions saying it’s the ‘cheapest and safest way’ to take the prisoners for treatment with trips happening almost every day
THOUSANDS of pounds are being spent by a prison each year to ferry inmates 150 yards to a hospital.
HMP Winchester has been using taxis to send handcuffed criminals to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital for treatment despite the fact it is literally across the road.
A picture of the Hampshire nick shows that the entrance to the hospital is directly opposite the prison gates.
A report published in the Daily Mirror explains that the trips are for appointments when staff on the jail’s healthcare unit cannot help and are thought to take place almost daily.
Sources told the newspaper that they cost around £5 each way and sometimes require additional waiting time for the driver.
Some have had to wait hours at a time while cons attend appointments, adding to the bill.
The pricey arrangement has sparked fury among staff at the slammer who insist there must be a cheaper way to ferry inmates from the Category B nick to the hospital.
Insiders say the jail does have a minibus but that staff are rarely available to drive it.
The prison uses the firm Happy Cabs which is based six miles away in Eastleigh.
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A source told the Mirror: “It’s a scandal. Frontline staff are being cut to the bone, which makes everyone’s life harder, but money is still being frittered away on these cabs.
“This has been going on for years. It’s astonishing they can’t find a better way to transport prisoners such a short distance.”
They added: “You have to laugh that the firm doing it is called Happy Cabs. It must be the easiest job going.”
The Prison Service defended its actions by insisting the taxis were the cheapest way it could find to take the prisoners to hospital.
A spokesman said: “Taxis are the most cost-effective and safe way of transporting prisoners across short distances whilst ensuring the public is protected.”
Happy Cabs boss Bill Gent said of the deal: “I’m quite happy with it. They pay us well and we’ve had no issues.”
But John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers have every right to be angry that so much of their money is being spent ferrying prisoners just a few hundred yards.
“When savings need to be found, prison bosses need to seriously consider whether this is a sensible use of their resources.”
Last year a report by inspectors from jail watchdog the Independent Monitoring Board warned of problems caused by understaffing at Winchester.
It said: “Our perception is that officer supervision is still highly stretched on some wings and is barely enough to cover routine operations of the prison.
“Although some training is apparently provided for this eventuality, our concern is that if any substantial incident occurred the system would be unable to cope, especially with so many recently-recruited and inexperienced staff.”
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