IPOA seeks urgent talks as prison officer contracts TB
It is believed that the prison officer, who worked at Cloverhill prison in Dublin, may have contracted the disease while he was escorting one of the prisoners diagnosed with TB for hospital treatment.
Around half a dozen TB cases were diagnosed among inmates at the prison a couple of months ago. At the time of the outbreak 300 staff and 450 prisoners were immediately screened.
However, it is understood that the prison officer wasn’t diagnosed as having TB until a more recent screening and is currently undergoing medical treatment.
All those who had close contact with the prison officer, both at and outside work, will also be screened.
IPOA assistant general secretary Gabriel Keaveney said his organisation wouldn’t discuss individual cases, but confirmed it was seeking an urgent meeting with the Public Health Department to discuss ways of protecting prison staff from the disease.
Mr Keaveney said the country’s 3,500 prison officers regularly came in close contact with inmates who were in poor health and susceptible to catching the disease.
“I think checks [of prison officers] should be done on a more consistent basis,” Mr Keaveney said.
He said the IPOA had also been in touch with the Prison Service to ensure proper protocols were drawn up for dealing with inmates who had TB or other communicable diseases.
He also said that prison officers faced the possibility of losing their jobs if they didn’t pursue a TB infected prisoner who was trying to escape.
