Emma Parker said the answers to addressing Aboriginal deaths in custody already exist in the royal commission released more than 30 years ago.
44-year-old Awabakal man Michael Baker died alone and in pain in his cell at Lithgow Correctional Centre in 2019. A coronial inquiry on Thursday found that while Mr Baker's cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, understaffing of prison doctors and nurses meant the care he received fell "well short of an appropriate level". Lithgow Correctional Centre had just one regular GP working six hours a week to care for hundreds of inmates, the inquest revealed.
The attending GP at Lithgow Correctional Centre, John Dearin, told the inquiry some patients reported waiting over six months to be seen. The court heard that Dr Dearin visited the jail one day a week for six hours to care for up to 420 patients - in addition to occasional visits by another GP - which was deemed in the findings to be "wholly insufficient". "Ideally I should have seen much sooner, but tragically I didn't," Dr Dearin told the inquest.
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