Brian’s right to protection from degrading treatment after having a seizure

Brian called our office from the medical unit in prison after he had an epileptic seizure and wet the bed. Brian said staff provided him with a change of clothes, but there was no clean bedding available. As a result, Brian had to sleep in the wet bedding overnight.

Later, Brian complained to the prison about what happened and called our office for advice. He felt he had not been treated with dignity.

Noting Brian’s right be protected from degrading treatment, we made enquiries with the prison about why it did not have spare linen in case of accidents like Brian’s.
The prison told us that additional laundry is supposed to be available. The prison agreed to ensure that extra bedding is on hand in the medical unit 24 hours a day. When we closed the complaint, we recommended the prison apologise to Brian.