Prison doctors cost £2.4m for one year

Greater Manchester Police spent £2.4 million calling out doctors to prisoners in a year, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request shows the cash was paid out by the force to ensure prisoners got the medical treatment they needed between November, 2008, and October, 2009.

Despite the large sum, GMP’s bill was significantly lower than other similar-sized forces.

West Yorkshire Police spent almost £3.4 million and West Midlands Police were faced with a £2.9 million bill.

However, Humberside Police paid out only £535 in 12 months, according to the information. Shipley MP Philip Davies, who put in the request, said forces must look to see if savings can be made.

He said: “It seems to me that it is an astonishing amount of money being spent by police forces across the country.

“This is money that the police cannot spend on employing officers on the front line so it is crucial these costs are kept to a minimum.

“I wonder if there is a way of doing it more cheaply and efficiently? These are staggering amounts of money.

“Criminals are kept in custody clogging up the cells waiting for people to come out to them and I am sure it is for the most spurious reasons at times.

“We need to look at these amounts across the country and stop so much of the police budget being spent in this way.”

GMP Superintendent Ian Palmer said every police force in England and Wales had an obligation to provide medical care to those in custody.

He said: “Last year, we awarded a contract to Medacs Healthcare that includes managing the healthcare provisions of our custody suites across Greater Manchester, which cover a geographical area of 500 square miles. The amount spent reflects the fact we are a very big force and deal with a large amount of prisoners who may need medical attention every day.”

Last month the Government announced that the GMP budget was to be cut by almost £7 million with savings expected to come from cutting waste and not frontline services.

GMP were expecting a £253.2 million revenue grant and a further £7.4 million as a capital grant for 2010/11.

But as part of a £125 million cut to forces across the country, GMP will be handed £246.8 million and £6.9 million which is £6.9 million less than they were promised.