A health scare developed at Villawood detention centre in June after an asylum seeker was diagnosed with leprosy.
Despite assurances from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, a whistleblower revealed the extent of asylum seekers’ poor health care.
International Health and Medical Services is the private health provider contracted to provide health care to people held in Australia’s immigration detention centres.
International Health and Medical Services is part of International SOS, a private health company set up by two French doctors. International SOS has contracts with the US Army, Rio Tinto and other big companies.
Muhamad (not his real name), a health worker who has worked in several detention centres blew the whistle on the poor health care available to asylum seekers.
He told Green Left Weekly a major problem is that there “are a lot of different doctors working short term so there’s no consistency of care.
“GPs are contracted to come in and out of centres. There’s no proper follow up. Refugees have trouble understanding why they don’t see the same doctor. There’s no continuity of care.”
In the case of the man diagnosed with leprosy, Muhamad said that if there was more consistency of care, he may not have developed leprosy or else it would have been diagnosed earlier.
There are questions about whether the asylum seeker was taking too much medication or conflicting medication. He reportedly has other health conditions and was seeing many different doctors.
There was no management of his medication. Different doctors had prescribed him different drugs.
Before being diagnosed with leprosy, the man had been unable to walk and had experienced drowsiness and dizziness for 24 hours.
He had headaches, fever, sweatiness, was pale, his eyes hurt and he suffered medical seizures.
Muhamad said that if there was more regular follow-up of this man’s condition, he might not have developed leprosy. It is difficult to diagnose, especially in a patient on so many medications.
In another case, three different doctors gave a man three different drugs for the same symptoms.
There are other examples where a lack of care has a negative impact on the health of asylum seekers.
One man in the Curtin detention centre took anti-depressants for nine months before he saw a doctor who asked him if the anti-depressants were working. They had never worked.
His treatment had not been evaluated in nine months because of changing doctors. In that time, his health had worsened.
In another case, a Chinese woman in detention took medicine for a long time but had no idea what it was for. Muhamad said “health workers just give them the medication and they are expected to take it without review. A lot of refugees aren’t able to speak up for themselves .”
Other problems arise because pharmacists are not allowed to visit patients in detention so they don’t know the patients and just give out the medication.
It means pharmacists cannot always learn if patients are allergic to medicine or if there is a conflict of medication.
This also causes problems for asylum seekers who are released from a hospital stay on a weekend. Their treatment is interrupted because deliveries of medication from pharmacies are only accepted on weekdays.
Other problems arise when asylum seekers are transferred from one detention centre to another.
One man was diagnosed with an infection, but didn’t complete his antibiotic course because he was transferred to another detention centre without his medication.
Some asylum seekers have begun medical treatment at one detention centre but have been transferred before they receive the results of scans and other tests.
Serco prison guards are responsible for issuing medication in detention centres, creating many problems. It may not even be legal, as first aid officers are not allowed to issue headache tablets let alone other medication.
Serco prison guards are in a position of power over asylum seekers and sometimes make asylum seekers wait for medication.
There are no full-time nurses in detention centres to issue medicine.
In one case, Serco guards found a quantity of medication in an asylum seeker’s room. This asylum seeker was suicidal. None of the Serco guards had been observing whether he was taking his medication.
Serco guards are also responsible for the storage and administration of medication.
Muhamad said there have been many occasions where “the medication has been loose in a plastic bag after being taken out of blister packs and all mixed up. Some of the medication delivered to the compound is not of a sufficient quality.
“Tablets [have been] left exposed and [are] sodden when given to refugees.
“Some asylum seekers complain that their medication has gone missing, including scheduled drugs like narcotics. Serco is left in charge of medication after hours.”
“All people have a right to access safe medical treatment,” said Muhamad. “If the current health system in detention centres continues, people will end up harming themselves with their medication. There should be a permanent paramedic in the detention centres.”