It’s 7:45 AM. That annoying intercom announces 10 minutes to unlock count.

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If you weren’t already awake from the sleep you just managed to get the night before – on a mattress that’s like sleeping on the hard ground with a small pile of leaves between you – you’re definitely awake now from that ear-piercing sound.

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You get up, get dressed, make your bed, put on some deodorant, go to the kitchen, greet your fellow cottage residents or pod members, and make a coffee, while in the background all you hear is the morning news talking about all the things going wrong in the world today.

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It’s another start to a boring, grim day in the prison system.

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You start to think: what will today bring? What is my motivation for my existence today? Will I be called up by that annoying intercom five times today, just because the officers couldn’t do as I asked on the first visit to them? Will my problems even be addressed today?

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Will today be the day that the many forms I put into medical to see a doctor or the psych nurse actually get answered? Could this actually be the day where I’m considered to be more than a number stuck in a broken system? Will today be the day I’m treated with some dignity and respect, even though I’m a prisoner?

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Will my rights be accepted today? Will my complaints and grievances be addressed accordingly to fit in with the duty of care, human rights and even the local operating procedures today?

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Probably not today, probably not tomorrow, probably not even this week. This would be the standard you come to expect while in jail, as most of us would know.

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On the daily I’m left wondering why can’t they just do the simple things to ensure everybody has equal opportunity and access to things they need?

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Why can’t the medical system that’s in place actually provide adequate care, and when does it become fair that a HSM (Health Service Manager) can override what a doctor or podiatrist says, especially when it’s demonstrated that you have ongoing medical issues?

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Why can’t we be provided proper dental care? People like myself have spent years waiting on a list to get teeth extracted at a dental hospital, because it can’t be done by the prison dentist for numerous reasons. But it states in the Corrections Act: the right to have access to reasonable dental treatment necessary for the preservation of dental health.

Reasonable care and preservation – so if you have teeth that need pulling out, fair enough, the dentist in the prison can usually do this; however, it depends on the severity.

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If you have rotting teeth causing pain, getting constant tooth infections, struggling to eat properly, and need dentures and more than three teeth pulled out, well then, you get nothing.

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Sorry, you go on the list. Then, if you’re lucky, you may get to an appointment at a dental hospital, providing the prison actually transports you to that appointment. And if they don’t transport you, well, guess what – you miss out completely, because they cancel all referrals because you have missed your appointment. Not any fault of your own, but due to the incompetence of the prison system getting you the care you need, you miss out.

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They then tell you that now you have to find a private dentist. So how do you do that? What if you don’t have someone outside that can find this for you? What if you can’t afford a private dentist? Why does the duty of care disappear? The prison won’t refer you to a private dentist at all.

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So where is this care? When is it shown to us prisoners that we are more than just a number clogging up the prison system?

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Then you get to mental health – well, this is where you’re screwed. If you have mental health issues in jail, you’re doomed from the start. For example, if you have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and you need to have routine and access to coping mechanisms in case routine breaks and you can’t do the things you’re compelled to do, this is where you suffer most. Because the minute you engage in any self-punishment or self-harm, it’s: here, have a smock and a cold room.

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It’s not a matter of, ‘let’s address the issues causing this and try to prevent it from happening, and provide help to maintain your routines’. It’s a cold cell and being monitored 24 hours on camera, which in most cases makes
people worse.

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How about, instead of punishing the person for having mental health problems, actively do something to help them? Don’t just write in all the policies and procedures and brochures that we are here to help, we will do this and do that to help, just so it looks good on paper and to the public.

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We are human beings, we have rights, we are more than numbers, we deserve to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of our crimes. We have already been punished. Having mental health or medical concerns, or any concerns, should be addressed accordingly and equally for every prisoner.

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No one prisoner is the same – obviously we all have different issues – but it should all be dealt with equally. No one should get less than the other. We are not meant to be punished again while we are incarcerated. Our sentence is our punishment.