Brixton prisoner who needed daily check-ups died of Covid after refusing help

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A prisoner died of Covid after refusing to let healthcare staff in a prison check him when he tested positive for the virus.

Bradley Sayers, 51, died at King’s College Hospital in March 2021, two months after falling ill with the disease at Brixton Prison.

According to a doctor who reviewed the case, staff hadn’t assessed whether Mr Sayers was mentally fit after he refused a medical check-up on January 19, 2021, according to a report by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.

The report said he should have received daily check-ups because he was at high risk of suffering complications from the illness.

Prison records showed healthcare staff from company Practice Plus Group failed to carry out medical checks on him on January 18 and 19, 2021, after he tested positive for the virus.

The following day he was rushed to hospital after a prison GP found he was suffering from shortness of breath and low blood oxygen levels.

Mr Sayers’s condition deteriorated and he was placed on a ventilator, but he later died.

The doctor who reviewed Mr Sayers’s case concluded the care he received was “equivalent to that which he could have expected” if he wasn’t in prison.

But the doctor added that Mr Sayers “may have been admitted to hospital sooner” if he had received check-ups on January 18 and 19, 2021.

Despite this, the doctor said they could not say whether this would have prevented Mr Sayers’s death.

The report, published on April 13, 2023, went on to criticise prison staff for restraining Mr Sayers when he was taken to hospital with breathing problems, without carrying out a risk assessment to determine if the restraints were appropriate.

Staff told an investigator they believed a chain was used to escort Mr Sayers to the hospital.

The Ombudsman said they could not “say whether the use of or type of restraints was justified or not” due to the lack of a risk assessment.

Mr Sayers is the fifth prisoner to die at HMP Brixton since March 2019 and the second to die from Covid. Of the other deaths, one was self-inflicted and the other two were due to natural causes.

Mr Sayers was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for burglary in October 2018. He was released under licence in February 2020, but was recalled twice to prison after breaking the conditions of his release.

Practice Plus Group, the independent company that provides health and social care services to the 810-capacity prison, said it was “deeply saddened” by Mr Sayers’s death.

A spokesman added: “We were reassured however that the independent clinical review found that the care he received in prison was equivalent to that which he would have expected to receive in the community.

“This is testament to the hard work of our staff in extremely challenging circumstances during the pandemic.

“We are however always keen to learn and improve our services further and have accepted and actioned the recommendations in the Prison and Probation Ombudsman report, including that healthcare staff should assess mental capacity for prisoners who decline medical advice and treatment.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Our sympathies remain with Mr Sayers’ family and since the report, we have implemented all recommendations made by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.”

Pictured top: HMP Brixton In Lambeth (Picture: Google Street View)