The board were unable to identify who opened Mr C's mail, but they acknowledged that it appeared to have arrived at the health centre unopened. They accepted that the item should not have been opened by staff and that an apology should have been issued to Mr C as soon as it was identified that it had been opened in error. We therefore upheld Mr C's complaint.
Recommendations
We recommended that the board: issue appropriate staff guidance on the handling of prisoner mail by healthcare staff.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201508083 as a PDF (11.78 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018