This is the first of a two-part series with Health Minister Harry Soares on the problems and future of the prison service.

*** Hiring more prison officers is not the answer to improving the Island's prison system.

Health Minister Harry Soares said that a recent review conducted by a Canadian consulting firm showed "that if we can streamline scheduling and make better use of technology then we should be able to free up some officers and redeploy them to where officers feel they need help''.

Mr. Soares spoke to The Royal Gazette on Monday about the state of the prisons following recent accusations against the system.

He said prison officers were seriously concerned about the recommendations from the recent review of the prison service by a Canadian consulting firm.

"Process Reengineering & Environmental Consultants made certain recommendations and prison staff are anxious to see what effect the report will have on them personally.'' He added: "I really believe prison officers are in a state of anxiety and why I say that is that in dealings I've had with them they are looking for more staff.'' This is because officers are concerned for their safety and are concerned that the system is not doing as much as it could do as far as rehabilitation went, continued Mr. Soares.

However their contrasting opinions plus those of politicians and the public are delaying the introduction of the recommendations but the review should go before Parliament for discussion in the near future.

"The only big regret I have is that I just wish we could get things done faster but we can't always get a consensus,'' said Mr. Soares.

In the prison, political and public arenas it was difficult to get agreement on what should be done and "if people won't buy into a recommendation then there is no way it will be successful'', he said.

"It is very difficult to get unity on what should be done.'' He added: "I concede that there is room for improvement and we are doing our utmost to get the improvements done as soon as possible.'' However "there are very few significant recommendations in life that don't need money''.

"The challenge is how we can do more with the same amount of money as we compete with all the other Government departments for cash.'' But rescheduling and redeployment of officers should relieve the amount of money being spent on overtime which could then be used in other areas, he added.

Soares wants to free up officers Moves that are being made include putting the infirmary at Westgate into operation to relieve officers from accompanying inmates to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, continued Mr. Soares.

This had not been done previously as it was not considered a priority, he said, adding that dentists were now visiting the prison to deal with inmates.

He said the freeing up of officers in general will allow for more inmates to be taken out of their cells and put in classes and on work details which is very difficult to do now when there is sometimes one officer in charge of 45 inmates.

Dealing with large numbers of inmates was another source of stress for prison officers, said Mr. Soares, and this added to their anxiety as did the fact that younger inmates entering the system over recent years were "just so unpredictable''.

Concerns about the rehabilitation and counselling of inmates has been raised recently, particularly about the availability of different programmes.

The Hazelden substance abuse programme is not available to maximum security inmates, said Mr. Soares.

Firstly these inmates have no access to drugs or alcohol, he said.

And he added: "Hazelden by nature is a group activity, part of which is where people share their experiences and help each other through group sessions.

"One of the definitions of maximum security is that you are segregated so by that definition you cannot take part in group sessions.'' The programme becomes available to the inmate when he or she earns the right to be in medium security and it is not effective costwise -- or from a medical point of view -- to give it to a person immediately upon entering prison, said Mr. Soares.

And individual programmes can not be given through their cost factor, he added.

"There is more than ample time for the average inmate in the prison system to have the Hazelden programme once they reach the appropriate security level.'' And only a very small percentage of inmates are in maximum security at any one time, he added.

Mr. Soares said there were also inmates who refused the courses offered.

"There is a perception that you can force inmates to improve themselves but until they are ready there is no chance of making progress. You can't force them.

"How do you rehabilitate a person if they're not ready? I don't know how to do it. The only thing you can do is make sure that when they are ready they can get the classes they need.'' But he added: "I must caution the public against erroneously believing that all sex offenders can be easily rehabilitated.

"They can only be rehabilitated if they are willing and if their illness is not too severe.''