One of the terrific areas in prison is healthcare. Some very good and dedicated doctors and nurses and complete, free medicine. Today I collected my 6 months prescription for blood pressure, lowering the sugar, gout etc... £1007!
In prison - free.
The doctor in Elmley who discovered I needed pills for such things was Iraqui. As you can imagine, in 2003 this provoked many long and fascinating discussions about the country.
There are quite a few things I miss about prison - good manners (everyone is far more polite than they are out here), the interesting people and stories, the tolerance and patience, the discipline - but perhaps most of all; free prescriptions!