Table 4 Institutional barriers

ALISON: That's the thing when you have to put all these applications in, (Ah ha) it puts you off.... It's because you, everything you do you've got, it's always put an application in, put an ap. in, and people are like "What, I have to put an app. in just to get to see if I've got a disease?" Do you know what I mean, that's the way people think. When you've got to put an app. in it's like I'll do it later, do you know what I mean? .... And it just, it's a nightmare, them apps. are definitely.

EMMA: I was tested... last year and I, I didn't have [Hep C], and I come back [to prison] and a certain doctor said that he would take bloods and everything. He took bloods off us and then I had to go and see him on Monday and he said "You've got Hepatitis virus in your body" and em, he said "You need more blood tests" and he took them, he took loads of blood off us and then he put these big stickers on saying what you call, infection and then diseases do you know what I mean, I felt stupid. And he says "Right, come and see us next Monday" and that was it. I was crying me eyes out. But he didn't, he didn't tell us nowt.

CHRISSIE: Yeah because like I'm, honest when I was rattling I was dead weak and I couldn't even remember I was just trying to get through my rattle. That's all I were thinking about.

JIMMY: they gave us a vaccination, then gave us another one, then I got me booster, but in the meantime while I was still using they wanted to take me blood afterwards to make sure if I had caught anything in the meantime (Yeah) but I ended up in prison (Right) so I couldn't get me blood taken.

COLIN: What I'm led to believe is we get the same as what you get in the community like you know so that's what we're told like. But er, I wouldn't know like I've been in a long time, but really I think, I don't think it's right. ... I think health care, I think you should have in, you know in an emergency then, in here you wait like you wouldn't in the community, but you wouldn't if it was an emergency in the community like you wouldn't wait like you know, and er, that's what I think.

DANNY: At the end of the day it's [Hep C] sort of, it's self inflicted isn't it? ... And we [IDUs] are just a society who, who people aren't really bothered about.

LS: Well, if you'd still been outside, would you have gone to your GP and asked for testing?

DANNY: Well I was, I did approach my GP and he referred us to the consultant but like I said it's been adjourned twice and I think that would've happened all the time, and they would've just got sick of us. ... Uh hm. They would've just got sick and said look, there's people there who really want it, wanting to do the treatment and you're just messing about by not staying off drugs.