Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Scottish Prison Service

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Not Upheld Reference 201707720 Sector Prisons Category discrimination and human rights Decided 01 April 2019

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Original decision on the SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) website ↗

Full decision

Summary

Mr C complained that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) unreasonably refused to allow him access to a laptop. Mr C said that he had a degenerative condition (a disease in which the function or structure of the affected tissues or organs worsens over time) and a laptop had specialist software that would allow him to communicate as his condition progressed.

We found that the SPS responded reasonably to Mr C's request. We also noted that once Mr C had received a specialist assessment for his degenerative condition, the prison service had agreed to work with his medical team to resolve the issue. We did not uphold this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

Mr C was also concerned about the way his complaint was handled. We found that the SPS handled Mr C's complaint reasonably and did not uphold this aspect of his complaint.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201707720 as a PDF (23.71 KB) Updated: April 17, 2019

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website