The issue deals with how a mentally ill patient should be handled if they are determined to be a safety risk to themselves or others. Regulations of the Mental Health Law [1997 Revision] set out how a “place of safety” can be designated for a mentally disordered person, but, put simply, Cayman lacks sufficient facilities to suit that purpose. Usually, the “place of safety” has been a prison lock up.
Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams said Tuesday that the issue is not only one of conscience and social responsibility for the Cayman Islands, but one that could land the territory in legal trouble when the 2009 Constitution’s Bill of Rights comes into effect later this year.
Ms Williams is not the first person to make such a claim. In fact, her report on the matter – made public last week in the Legislative Assembly – cited statements in 2009 by the late Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation William Rattray who noted that current prison facilities weren’t the solution to the territory’s mental health problems.
“It is my view that Fairbanks [women’s prison facility] is not adequate as a place of safety for mental health patients who have not been committed to prison as an untried prisoner, waiting for sentence or sentenced to imprisonment by a court,”
Mr. Rattray opined during an April 2009 investigation by the complaints commissioner’s office. Ms Williams’ recent report was done as a follow up to that investigation.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gerald Smith, speaking to investigators in 2009, generally agreed to that statement at the time, but noted that “it is the best we can do with what is and is not currently available to us”.
Please see the full story in Thursday’s Caymanian Compass and online at cayCompass.com.
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