Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard ...

Healthcare officer
8.5 An entry in Mr Lodge’s Inmate Medical Record by Healthcare Officer Stell says
he interviewed Mr Lodge at 6.30 pm following a message that his girlfriend had
telephoned to say “she was worried about the possibility of him self-harming on return to
prison”. The entry says that Mr Lodge said he was a little upset when refused bail but
now felt OK about returning to prison. He had been asked to inform wing staff if he felt
he needed to talk to someone and no follow-up was required.
8.6 HCO Stell was working in reception seeing prisoners newly admitted to the
prison. One of the auxiliary staff gave him the message. He went to the holding room
and asked Mr Lodge to come into the corridor. (In a letter of 8 August 2009, Mr Stell told
the inquiry he would have done his utmost to ensure the conversation was as far away
from others as possible, though it was difficult to have complete privacy, given the
physical as well as operational constraints of the prison, including security.) Mr Stell
asked Sonny Lodge if he was all right or if he had any problems and explained that his
girlfriend had telephoned, concerned about his health, and asked staff to keep an eye on
him. Mr Stell said he asked Mr Lodge whether he had given Ms A any indication
something was wrong and that Mr Lodge replied that he had been upset and annoyed
when he did not get bail and “flew off the handle a bit”. Mr Stell said Mr Lodge’s manner
was quite jovial; he said he was quite OK and everyone had “got the wrong end of the
stick”. He gave HCO Stell no indication at all that he might self-harm. HCO Stell said he
assured Mr Lodge that he or other health care staff would be available if he needed to
speak to someone and Mr Lodge assured HCO Stell that if he needed to see somebody
he would ask. HCO Stell said he did not know that Sonny Lodge had a history of selfharm.
8.7 HCO Stell explained to the Prison Service investigation that Mr Lodge’s medical
record would not have been available in reception. In his recent letter, Mr Stell told the
inquiry that he would probably have made notes during the conversation then completed
the entry in the Continuous Medical Record when he returned to the healthcare centre
before going off duty that evening. He said that a prisoner returning from court would not
usually see a healthcare officer. He saw Sonny only because of the telephone call. He
did not see the escort record or Sonny Lodge’s prison file and did not know his history of
self-harm.
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