John Ramwell

FROM ESTATE HAND TO HOSPITAL PRISON OFFICER TO GOVERNOR - 1960 TO 1997 MY TIME ON THIS SIDE OF THE BARS.

HMP WAKEFIELD

A promotion saw me posted to HMP Wakefield in Yorkshire. Back up north again!

At forty I was told I was among the youngest Hospital Chief Officers in the Service. Maybe this was because they had a problem filling the post. Staff morale and staff management was poor. My predecessor opted out, content to see out his time towards retirement by keeping to his office and let his senior staff make the most of a bad job. Excessive overtime was being manipulated, staff were taking liberties and when I tried to effect changes I was given little or no support from my Principals. It was a case of, 'it's your problem, get on with it.' I either quit or I coped. I decided on the latter and sought out a meeting with the Director of Medical Services, Dr. Rosemary Wool. I have to say her attitude was similar to those of my Governor and Principal Medical Officer back at base and all I really received was a bunch of platitudes. I had little choice but to place a couple of officers on a disciplinary charge known as 'Half Sheet.' Don't ask me why!

Though, obviously in my estimation, the evidence was pretty good the power of the Prison Officers Association was even stronger and the cases were lost. I had to soldier on. But certain members of staff, particularly my two Senior, were sympathetic to my efforts and they were keen to see change and with their support I believe I did make some improvements, even though it was rather like pushing treacle uphill.

The Irish Republican Army was very active both in Ireland and in England. We had in our care an IRA prisoner who was 'on the blanket'; that is, he refused to wear prison clothing and insisted he was a POW. Because he had been sent down the London Underground to defuse the bomb he had planted there and because it exploded taking off his arm he was one of our patients. He complained to me one morning, when on my rounds, that he was being antagonised by a particular member of staff. As this was one of the few occasions he ever spoke to me I did have a word with the officer concerned who claimed, “All I ever do is sing under my breath.” He failed to say he sang anti-IRA tunes. I warned him he was being stupid and sure enough, a week later he failed to show up for work. In fact he never showed up for work again either at Wakefield Prison or any other prison as far as I know. Officials from the IRA had called on him at his home and 'advised him' on his ways and on what retaliatory methods were open to them. The power of the IRA back then was not to be underestimated.

The whole HIV and AIDS issue hit the fan during my time at Wakefield. We were dealing with the unknown. The public at large, society in general, the Government specifically, the medical fraternity in general were all dealing with the unknown and there is nothing like the unknown, particularly when this ignorance is dealing in serious disease and death, to cause fear and over-reaction. Prisons, mainly local prison, were in the front line in dealing with this outbreak and Wakefield was no exception. The POA and staff in general, even the doctors, were unsure about how to deal with it. White boiler suits and rubber gloves and boots became ‘de rigueur.’ It was to our credit that, by and large, we all maintained a level of professionalism as common sense prevailed and information replaced the vacuum of ignorance. It all happened very fast and the whole issue was exacerbated by the outdated attitude towards gays and lesbians back then. We have moved a long way in a short time. Indeed I recall as a young Hospital Officer, escorting prisoners to clinics beyond the prison for Aversion Therapy to treat the 'illness' of homosexuality. Sometimes the courts would make such treatment a condition of early release. Doctors and psychiatrists all believed (or most did) that homosexuality could be treated. How times and attitudes have changed in such a short period.

The impact of AIDS and HIV on society was reflected within the prison community. It all seemed to happen very quickly. Suddenly there were public information sheets, posters and leaflets everywhere. The media went into overdrive. Society was being forced to address what had always previously been a taboo subject. Overnight we saw open open and frank discussions about homosexuality. When one considers just how we approached this issue only a short time previously by locking up anyone who dared to search out a homosexual partner in such as public toilets, it is just amazing how the attitudes of society - though to this day, not all of them - have changed. Who ever would have thought back in the late 20th Century that today we would accept same sex marriages as the norm!!

We cared for some notorious inmates at Wakefield including one on long term hunger strike. By all accounts he should have starved to death several times over but somehow kept lingering on.Occasionally he had to be forced fed and this was a procedure that was so de-humanising for both the recipient and the administrators. There were some implications regarding his incarceration and to say he was a difficult, manipulative, evil individual is understating his personality. He had to be handled with circumspect as there was clearly more to his background than we, or at least I, was ever made privy to.The media persisted in their interest in his welfare and I was always very wary of any involvement with him. One officer did get the sack for talking to the press about him. He was located in a side room of the hospital when I arrived and he was still there when I eventually left. No idea what happened to him but he survived many years of ‘refusing food’ during my time.

I am sometimes asked about notorious prisoners with whom I have been acquainted over the years. Many were true psychopaths and, as such, were considered untreatable.The discussions regarding causes continue. Here the 'nature v nurture' debate really kicks in. Whatever the aetiology, the prison service usually ends up with the job of caring for them. As my illustration regarding Jimmy above, the Special Hospitals would rather leave it this way. In my limited experience not all of them were overtly evil. This may be one of their problems as it seems they are often able to display a side of their personality which can be quite engaging. An experiment consisting of concentrating very difficult and disturbed prisoners together and concentrating resources towards their 'treatment' and care was a brave attempt to follow the example of the Netherlands Prison Service and I am very proud to have been part of this experiment; of which more later.

One of the arguments I came across quite often was that if the Prisons were expected to care for such unpredictable people should they not be resourced and staff trained to so do. Were we looking after prisoners or patients or, even more perplexing, were some of them simultaneously realistically both!?

Returning to life at Wakefield. I was in the Officers Club one evening; not far off closing time. Officers Clubs featured large and every establishment had one. They were a source of entertainment as well as of staff unity. It's a pity they have been relegated to history.

Anyway, I was enjoying a last drink when we had the call to attend a disturbance in the nick. A prisoner had set fire to his mattress and the whole wing was filled with smoke. The matter was quickly dealt with and we all went home. The 'fun' started the next day when the inmates of the wing discovered that affected staff were to have chest X Rays and so insisted on the same treatment. The Governor of the day was not the easiest individual to get on with and he and our PMO did not always see eye to eye. I had to act as intermediary which was all a nonsense but.... The Governor ask me whether we had plans to examine the inmates. The PMO said no, that there was no clinical indication. A riot appeared to be looming. Inmates affected by smoke inhalation were becoming agitated, even revolting! It was getting serious. I am not saying that the PMO was relishing the discomfort of the Governor but ... Somehow I had to get the doctor to change his mind. Requests from me that he do so were fruitless. Even suggesting he reconsider was tantamount to disloyalty. I did not have too much sympathy with the Gov. but a riot would mean trouble and likely injuries to those involved. I hit upon a ruse. This is the first time I have shared this tale; after so many years I guess I am beyond any reproach from my boss. I spoke with a senior consultant at St James Hospital in Leeds who I knew quite well and described the problem. 'What can I do about it?' he demanded. I suggested he might make a call to my PMO (they were well known to each other) on some pretext or another and persuade him it might be a good idea should he back off a little. He did me this favour and a compromise was reached. The PMO came through to my office. 'I have thought on the matter,' he said. 'We'll medically examine the prisoners in the affected wing.' And that afternoon we checked them all out with stethoscopes. A riot was averted and to this day the good doctor had no idea I had initiated the call from St James Hospital. More ways of killing a cat than drowning it in cream!

I played my very last game of rugby whist at Wakefield - against RAF Finningley at the age of 42; it ended with me being drunk in charge of a push bike as I tried to find my way home but this is another story all together.

One final anecdote from my time at Wakefield. Adjacent to the Prison was the Prison Service College which had its own restaurant which I used frequently for my lunch. On one occasion I recognised an officer from my days at Oxford, Ted H. who was on a course. He didn’t recognise me at first but I remembered him and not fondly. A bully and threw his weight around unnecessarily to the extent I once challenged him ... inviting him to take me on rather than persist in bullying a young prisoner. He declined and he retaliated by labelling me, ‘Rule One Ramwell.’ I moved on soon after this event to undertake training as a hospital officer so he didn’t have any opportunity to really retaliate. I took some perverse pleasure in reminding Ted of this occasion by introducing myself ... as ‘Rule One Ramwell.’ I now outranked him and he at least had the decency to be embarrassed.