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A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist will lead access to women’s health in the new women’s unit in Limerick Prison.
Dr Mary McCaffrey has been engaged to take on the role by the Irish Prison Service, “to provide access to specialist women’s health services” in the unit.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said: “This will provide the women in custody with an equivalence level of access to women’s health services similar to those that are available in the community.”
He added: “The prevalence of detection of a requirement for further investigation and/or treatment amongst women in custody is approximately 1.5/2 times higher for women in custody than women in the general community population.”
He said a specialist women’s health New service will give woman
The clinic will also provide an opportunity to promote women’s health issues, and provide education and support for women who may require such services and support women in living healthier lives on leaving custody, he said.
Dr McCaffrey was also recently appointed to the role of deputy coroner for Cork City. She has been a consultant at Kerry General Hospital since 1998 and opened the Scotia Clinic in Kerry in 2002.
She is also a former assistant master at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, during which time she worked at the IVF unit and the sexual assault treatment unit. She also lectured in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In the 1990s, she was employed at Northwick Park Hospital, London, and was involved in starting a medical service for women affected by female genital mutilation.
She served as president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association until 2007.
The new clinic for women’s health is part of the re-development of Limerick Prison, which incorporates a new accommodation block for male prisoners and a new standalone female prison.
A total of 90 new spaces for men have been provided at the prison, while the new female prison means there is capacity for an additional 22 inmates.
While bed capacity was 28 in the previous female wing in Limerick, it was regularly overcrowded. On July 31, there were 45 inmates — meaning it was operating at 161% capacity. A further 26 were on temporary release.
Overcrowding is also an issue in the Dóchas prison for women, on the Mountjoy campus.
During a previous visit to Limerick Prison, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: “It is important that our prisons cater for the specific needs of women.”
The redevelopment project at the prison also has resulted in the end of “slopping out”, through the provision of in-cell sanitation.
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