An Otago prisoner says it took days to get medical treatment after discovering he had swallowed metal fragments during a meal at Corrections' Milburn facility.
Otago Corrections Facility prisoner Ross Leishman told the Otago Daily Times that on June 14 while eating his evening meal he ''felt something hard in my mouth'' and removed it to find it was a 1cm piece of metal.
He was later told by a Corrections officer it was one of several pieces of a fragmented razor blade discovered in a pie he was eating, he said.
Corrections has rejected any suggestion the incident might have resulted from food tampering within the prison.
A Corrections spokeswoman said the matter was investigated, but declined to give further details.
ODT requests to interview OCF prison director Jack Harrison about the matter were declined. The department supplied two
statements attributed to Mr Harrison.
''Corrections strongly rejects accusations of tampering with food by prisoners at Otago Corrections Facility,'' the first statement said.
''There is no evidence of tampering taking place in food preparation areas which are monitored by CCTVs. Staff members are also present to supervise food preparation,'' it said.
''Corrections has a duty of care towards prisoners and takes this very seriously.''
The pies supplied to prisoners were prepared off-site.
Corrections refused to enter into any discussion on whether metal could have entered the pies in the production process.
''Unfortunately, many prisoners have histories of poor physical and mental health, including self-harm,'' the department said.
Corrections was ''unable to comment on health details relating to a particular prisoner without their consent''.
Leishman denied any suggestion it was a case of self-harm.
He asked his case officer if there was anything in his case file which suggested it was a matter of self-harm and she told him ''definitely not'', he said.
He had laid a complaint about his treatment and asked where the fragments had come from, he said.
''They haven't talked to me about anything.''
Leishman told the ODT that upon discovering the metal fragment, he took the pie to an on-duty Corrections officer, who told him to come back the next day.
The following day he raised the matter with another Corrections officer, who was concerned about the matter and referred him to the prison's medical unit, he said.
He was not seen by medical staff until the following day, June 16, and was not taken for an X-ray until June 18, he said.
''I should have gone to medical that night [June 14] and had an X-ray that night and been kept in hospital to make sure there wasn't any damage.
''It's been very careless and a breach of duty of care.''
The X-ray revealed three fragments of metal in his stomach and he was prescribed laxatives, he said.
It had left him with ongoing pain and caused a loss of appetite, he said.
He passed at least one of the fragments, which caused bleeding, and was advised by a prison nurse to ''put a cold cloth on it''.
An ACC claim form provided by Leishman shows ACC accepted cover for the injury.
The form appears to show ACC was informed of the matter on June 16.
Following further inquiries from the ODT about Leishman's claims, Corrections issued a second statement, saying ''unfortunately, many prisoners have histories of poor physical and mental health, including self-harm''.
''You can be reassured that prisons are very aware of their responsibilities around health and safety, including any hazards, and these are investigated thoroughly where necessary,'' the department said.
''If a prisoner has any urgent health requirements, they are acted on immediately.
''If health needs are not considered urgent, appointments with health staff take place over usual timeframes.''
Corrections declined a further ODT request to interview Mr Harrison.
A police spokesman said police were not aware of the incident.
Leishman remained concerned over his treatment by some staff.
''Some of them were quite helpful about it,'' he said.
''Some of them basically didn't care.
''They don't seem to have learned from the Jai Davis incident.
''I don't feel they have taken it seriously.''
Davis died in a prison cell in February 2011 from a drug overdose, after arriving at OCF with drugs concealed internally.
