- Office of the State Auditor
Media Contact for Audit Identifies Areas of Improvement for Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department
Lauren Feltch Donoghue, Director of Communications
Boston — In an audit released today, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump recommended that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) more regularly monitor the services of its healthcare vendor. The audit identified that SCSD did not always ensure its healthcare vendor met all necessary requirements with regard to service delivery to inmates or ensure the vendor complied with all the SCSD’s sick call policy as required by law. This performance audit reviewed the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021.
“During the audit period, SCSD changed its healthcare vendor due to poor performance. The audit findings suggest that periodic review of its service delivery could have detected its deficiencies before they reached the point of failure. Without regular review, there is a greater risk that the care to which inmates are entitled is not properly provided,” said Auditor Bump.
SCSD is required to monitor the contractor’s compliance by conducting a process performance audit consisting of a review of performance measures of various health records regarding medical, dental, mental, or other health services, to ensure the contractor is accountable for the quality and timeliness of the services provided. Additionally, to request access to healthcare, an inmate completes a sick call form, called the Health Service Request Form (HSRF), and states the type of service requested (medical, dental, or mental health), etc. Once submitted, healthcare staff members pick up the HSRFs daily to evaluate and triage each request within 24 hours.
The audit recommended improvements be made by SCSD in the area of monitoring controls in order to improve compliance and to ensure inmates are receiving necessary care, which was acknowledged by the department.
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