Prison inmates being treated in non-prison hospital wards could soon face additional security to prevent escape attempts.
Corrective Services NSW is working to establish a specialist medical escort team which assistant commissioner custodial corrections Kevin Corcoran says will boost security.
"Hospital watches are an area of great vulnerability for us," he told AAP.
Currently guards from correctional facilities guard inmates when they are being treated in ordinary hospital wards rather than in prison facilities.
"It's very secure at the moment - we've had the odd escape attempt from hospital, but I can't recall when we last had an escape," Mr Corcoran said.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"But I'd like to up the ante a little bit in terms of security and make it even more secure."
The guards would complement existing specialist officers, including the extreme high risk escort group who are called in to transfer prisoners identified as being at a greater risk of escape.
Officers from that unit were called in to take father and son fugitives Gino and Mark Stocco to prison after they were captured in October last year, having allegedly spent several years on the run from police.
