Lede: NHS doctor tells MEE situation is incredibly serious and that one prisoner was chained to a prison guard in hospita
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James Smith, an emergency doctor who has been providing advice and support to the hunger strikers and their families, said that the lack of communication by prisons during the strikers' hospitalisation flies in the face of standard protocol.
"If a prisoner is admitted to hospital and there is a concern that they may be severely unwell or that they have suffered a severe injury, then the prison service should update the next of kin that they have been admitted to hospital and update them with respect to their clinical state. And that's very well established in accepted guidance," Smith told MEE.
The doctor also reported that prison guards accompanying the prisoners to hospital have "obstructed" their treatment.
He said he was aware of at least one case in which a striker was chained to the bed or a prison guard for the duration of their stay in hospital.
"This included when they were showering, when NHS staff were trying to do medical assessments and take medical histories," Smith said.
Smith said the medical treatment the strikers are receiving falls "far below the minimum standard".
"When a prisoner announces that they're going on hunger strike, there are a series of actions that need to be taken," he said. "The bare minimum of which is regular daily monitoring."
He explained that this should include daily checks on blood sugar and ketone levels, as well as their weight.
"There doesn't appear to have been a single day where a full set of clinical signs have been shared with me by the next of kin," the doctor told MEE.
"We have certainly heard of several instances where the nurse has not checked the weight, or a blood ketone level hasn't been taken on a particular day."
He explained that, particularly in the later stages of a hunger strike, "a day where you've not taken an essential blood test or done an essential set of observations, can be the difference between picking up on something early, or leaving it until it's too late".
Smith emphasised that the situation now is critical, with many of the prisoners approaching the 40th day of their food refusal.
"This is the phase in which the body is effectively starting to break down muscles and essential organs. And there's a very, very high risk of death," he told MEE.
on December 12, 2025, 9:16 pm