I have Man Flu, full on Man Flu. On the outside, this is a serious affliction but in prison it takes on a whole new level of gravity. I reckon prison is a truly grotty place to be ill.

Now, of course, I am being somewhat jovial about my current bout of man flu (serious though it is). However, there are people living in the secure environment who are seriously, physically and/or mentally ill. I know of several people who have been out t hospital for treatment and then returned to prison to recover and prisoners do have cells specifically for inmates with fairly complex nursing needs.

There are also plenty of guys with less serious issues, for example badly ingrowing toe nails or constipation. The problem, though, is the almost total lack of care in here. When I got COVID, I was isolated in a cell for 10 days with no exercise, only having a brief shower ever other day and not once did anyone enquire into my well-being.

When I buzzed for paracetamol, it took an extended period of time for a guard to bring it. Eventually, when my door was opened a crack, a small plastic bag of two paracetamols was thrown in. I was never shown the slightest degree of human care.

The Mandela Rules (UN rules about confinement of prisoners) mandates certain levels of medical care, although I can’t give any details on that because when a friend sent the rules in to me, the guards refused to give them to me. I do believe, however, that we should get the same level of care as we would get on the outside. I can confirm that, unfortunately, this is not the case.

Apart from the simple fact that we don’t have the same medical attention as the outside, there are two issues. The first is the semi-medical stuff that we don’t have access to – all of the over-the-counter medication so we can’t have strepsils, lemsip, iron/calcium supplements, Bonjela or anything like that. I, of course, realise that some of this is placebo but I could certainly benefit from a hot, blackcurrant Lemsip right now!

The second issue is the careless environment. Hospitals and other care facilities invest a lot in the actual environmental features. The way that patients react to their surroundings must surely impact their reactions to treatment. If you add to these two issues, the very poor diet and the obscene lack of physical activity, is it any surprise that these people get more ill and are ill for longer in here?

Of course, you may think that prisoners deserve to have a tough time but let me ask you this – what if this was you or one of your family? Remember that you do not need to have committed any crime to be sent to prison, merely to have been found guilty by a court and those are two very different things.