AUDIT SERVICES - PRISONS - CHAOS WITH SICK LEAVE, OVERTIME, PROTOCOLS. PRISON GUARD WAS ABSENT FOR 200 DAYS, PRESENTED 111 CERTIFICATES BUT ONLY HAD 6 VSITS ON GESY - Filenews 10/3 by Michalis Chatzivasilis
Things and miracles are recorded in a report by the Audit Office for the Prison Department, especially for the overtime of the staff, the sick leaves and the lack of protocols, as a result of which nothing works in an organized way.
The report concerns the years 2024-2025 and according to the Auditor General Andreas Papaconstantinou, the audit carried out highlights a picture of pressure, organizational gaps and control weaknesses, which cannot be considered operational normality. It is also reported that on the issue of detention conditions within the Department, another audit by the Service is underway.
A series of irregularities, which may also touch on the possibility of committing offenses, are recorded in relation to the sick leaves of the staff. Medical certificates were issued by non-personal doctors, they were not justified by an equal number of visits, while pathologists issued sickness certificates for orthopaedic cases. A prison guard with 200 days of illness per year, in 2023 and 2024, presented 111 medical certificates, but only six visits were recorded in the GHS.
"The above create serious suspicions of collaboration between doctors and prison guards, with the aim of creating and submitting false representations and, by extension, deceiving the state. Our Service intends to refer the matter to the competent bodies for further investigation", says the Auditor General.
Typical, according to the report, is the case of a member of the Prison Department who, in order to justify an absence on sick leave for more than 200 days per year, both in 2023 and 2024, submitted a total of 111 certificates, of which about 95% came from two specific doctors. Only six relevant entries for visits were identified in the GHS system.
It is further stated that from the comparison of the registered sickness certificates in the leave files of the Prison Department with the corresponding data of visits to the GHS system, the following inconsistencies and discrepancies were found:
❖ For four of the eight members of the sample, whose specific Doctor A (pathologist) appears to have been the Personal Doctor, a large number of registered sickness certificates do not correspond to registered visits to the GHS.
❖ For four of the eight members of the sample, who, although the specific Doctor does not appear to have been their PD, he issued a significant number of medical certificates justifying their sick leave, without there being any recorded visits of the members to the said Doctor in the GHS system.
❖ Five of the eight members of our sample, in addition to the sickness certificates provided by Doctor A, also submitted relevant sickness certificates from Doctor B (Orthopaedic Specialist), for a significant number of whom no relevant registered visit to the GHS system was detected.
❖ Cases were identified where the dates and/or diagnoses, as recorded in the GHS system, do not comply with the submitted sickness certificates.
❖ A large number of sickness certificates issued by Doctor A (pathologist) related to orthopaedic diagnoses.
They are waiting for the Medical Council
In addition to the above, on 30.4.2025, responses were pending to 13 referral letters from the Prison Department to the competent Medical Council, concerning 12 members of the Department's staff. The 10 cases were referred around the end of 2024, one in March 2024 and the other two in August – September 2024.
A Member, who had been on secondment outside the TF since 2018, returned to the Department in September 2023 and was promoted to the position of Inspector. This member was on sick leave from the end date of his secondment until 31.12.2024, for a total of 488 days. For the period from 7.10.2024 to 31.12.2024 he was on unpaid sick leave as he had exceeded 360 consecutive days of sick leave. His sick leave was interrupted in 2025, as he presented himself to the TF on 2.1.2025, (i.e. only for one day) as a result of which he is entitled to paid sick leave again. The Medical Council of his duties and his secondment to another Department/Service. To date, nothing has been done.
With sick leave for 544 days
Another member of the Department, with a burdened medical history, receives more than 200 days of sick leave per year during the last five years. In the last two years, he received 317 (2024) and 227 (2023) days of sick leave, while his continuous leave from 2024 was interrupted in 2025 as he was presented to the TF on 2.1.2025. It is noted that from 3.1.2025 until 30.4.2025, the date of our audit, the member was on sick leave. It is noted that the member had been promoted to Chief Guard. The Medical Council, on 18.3.2021, after examining the case of the above member, according to the medical reports of his treating doctors and the clinical examination, ascertained the medical issues he is facing and recommended the change of his duties.
As of 31.12.2024, a letter from the Prisons to the Director of Medical and Public Health Services is pending, regarding whether the member is capable of performing his duties based on the Service Plan with which he was recruited/promoted.
Chaos with protocols
Another huge issue recorded in the Audit report concerns the non-existence of protocols. As noted, in addition to the protocol concerning the procedures for the Transfer of Prisoners Out of Prison (prepared after the escape of the lifer-hairdresser), no action protocols have been prepared for administrative issues (such as feeding prisoners, specialized provisions based on the data applicable to Prison staff in relation to the monitoring of working hours and taking leaves), nor for operational issues, especially in relation to dealing with critical incidents (such as escapes, violence, mutinies), which creates problems in the smooth operation of the Department and poses serious risks of not dealing with them in a timely and effective manner as well as calls into question the safety of prisoners.
The incomplete implementation of the new protocol in relation to the procedures for the transfer of prisoners out of prison by not completing all the relevant forms, reduces the effectiveness of the procedures and controls that have been established in recent years with the aim of improving procedures. It is also emphasized that the establishment of anti-riot teams in prisons has not yet been revised, as a result of which people who have... retire.
A third important issue recorded in the report concerns overtime and the recording of appearances at work by staff members. As it seems, a large portion of prison guards, while punching their card at the entrance, did not do so when they left.
Serious differences were observed between the Daily Duty Lists, the handwritten Attendance Record, the electronic time tracking system and the TB.50 forms, which are the basis for calculating overtime and the related allowances paid. The discrepancies found indicate insufficient internal control and an increased risk of incorrect payments, and may also affect prison guards working with the shift system, where a working time monitoring system is not in place.
It was found that some prison guards repeatedly work night shifts, which entails increased payment of allowances, with their average working hours exceeding the maximum allowed limit set out in the Organization of Working Time Law of 2002 (Law 63(I)/2002).
Benchmarks
– 15%-20% of those released from prison relapse and re-enter prison, exacerbating the overcrowding of prisons.
– 20 out of 40 electronic surveillance devices (wristbands) remain inactive, limiting the possibility of decongesting the Prisons.
– 46% of the staff did not record their presence correctly in both control systems, 21% of the staff did not use the electronic attendance system to record attendance/departure.
– 44 members of staff exceeded the annual limit of 42 days of sick leave (2023–2024)
– €1.2 million. energy costs for 2024, with weaknesses in taking saving measures through energy modernization.
