Healthcare provider at centre of coronial inquest will still operate at Victoria’s largest prison

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following mentions a deceased person. 

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The private healthcare provider referred to the prosecutor over the death of an Aboriginal woman in custody will continue to be responsible for the healthcare of more than 1000 incarcerated people, despite losing the contract for public prisons in the state.

Correct Care Australasia currently provides primary health services at all public prisons in Victoria, its two youth justice centres and one private prison — Victoria’s largest. Its services came under scrutiny following the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in early 2020.

Less than two weeks before coroner Simon McGregor handed down his findings into Nelson’s death in custody, the Victorian government announced that its contract with Correct Care to provide healthcare at the women’s prison would be scrapped, and public services would be used instead.

It was also revealed earlier this year that Correct Care’s contract to provide healthcare in all of Victoria’s public prisons would not be renewed, and it would cease providing these services from the end of June.

The coroner was highly critical of Correct Care in his findings, and referred the company to the Director of Public Prosecutions over Nelson’s death. The coroner found that the company “lacked a number of clear policies or processes for the safe medical management of their patients”, and that its failure to properly share information led to decisions being made on “incomplete and inaccurate information”.

The company also had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” arrangement with the Department of Corrections, which resulted in key evidence not being passed on following the death of Nelson, the inquest heard. The coroner labelled this arrangement as “disturbing” and accused the company of an “appalling lack of disclosure” following Nelson’s death.

Correct Care also failed to undertake a root analysis of the incident, contrary to the Justice Health Quality Framework, the coroner found.

Despite these highly critical findings, Correct Care will continue to provide healthcare at the Ravenhall Correctional Facility, the largest prison in Victoria, and at the state’s two youth justice facilities.

The Ravenhall prison is operated privately, and Correct Care has a separate contract to deliver health services at the facility, while its contract with the state government for the youth prisons runs until 2024 and is worth $43 million.

A spokesperson for Correct Care said the company is continuing to “provide health services to Ravenhall Correctional Centre and two youth justice precincts in line with its current contracts”.

The spokesperson said Correct Care is currently “reviewing” the coroner’s findings.

A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokesperson said the department is also “carefully considering” the coronial findings.

“The safety and wellbeing of the people in our justice system is vitally important — and that includes access to high-quality healthcare,” the spokesperson said.

Crikey understands that the Victorian government plans to make a number of changes to health services at the state’s two youth prisons this year with an aim to provide equivalence of care with the community.

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) has called on the state government to bring all prison healthcare back into public hands.

“It is disappointing that Correct Care Australasia have been allowed to continue their current contracts at several facilities,” VALS CEO Nerita Waight told Crikey.

“The coronial inquest into the passing of Veronica Nelson showed that private healthcare providers are not providing adequate care but rather inflicting harm.”

As of the end of January, there were 942 people incarcerated at Ravenhall, the largest figure out of any of the facilities in Victoria. The prison accounts for more than 10% of the overall Victorian prison population.

There are on average just over 100 people aged under 18 years old in Victoria’s youth prisons on an average day.

Correct Care Australasia is a division of controversial US conglomerate Wellpath.

Wellpath has been the subject of a number of lawsuits in the US, where it provides healthcare in a number of prisons. Wellpath is facing a number of wrongful death legal cases in the US. 

The US Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General found “untimely and inadequate medical care” in 2018 at an immigration facility where Wellpath provided healthcare services.

In 2021, the US Department of Justice published an investigation into Wellpath’s services at a Californian jail, finding reasonable cause that the healthcare provided there was not constitutionally adequate.

Wellpath founder Gerard Boyle pleaded guilty in late 2021 to a pay-to-play bribery scheme in Norfolk, Virginia. The case involved Wellpath paying bribes in order to obtain a US$3.2 million annual contract to provide healthcare in the state’s prison.