How Many Doctor Posts Are Unfilled in Israel’s Prisons?
17.25 of 71 Prison Service physician posts stood unfilled at the State Comptroller’s 2022 follow-up audit, which counted 274,600 check-ups in 2020.
17.25 of 71 physician posts in the Israel Prison Service stood unfilled when the State Comptroller of Israel published a follow-up audit of the inmate medical system in May 2022, a wider gap than the one recorded at the previous audit of the same subject. The same audit counted about 14,000 inmates held in 2020, of whom 5,369, or 38%, were chronically ill, and 274,600 inmate medical check-ups delivered that year. All of these are the State Comptroller’s own counts, taken from Prison Service data in an audit of the Prison Service, published in Hebrew as chapter 210 of the May 2022 report.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 17.25 of 71 | Physician posts unfilled, out of established posts | At the audit |
| 3 of 43 | Clinic doctors holding board certification | At the audit |
| 5,369 (38%) | Inmates recorded as chronically ill, of about 14,000 held | 2020 |
| 297 (2%) | Inmates aged 65 or over, of about 14,000 held, up about 30% since 2014 | 2020 |
| 274,600 | Inmate medical check-ups recorded | 2020 |
| 16 of 30 | Prison Service clinics requiring renovation | At the audit |
| 15 | Inmate suicides recorded | 2017 to 2020 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, The Medical System for Treating Inmates in the Israel Prison Service, follow-up audit, May 2022, on Prison Service data.
17.25 of 71 Prison Service physician posts stood unfilled
The State Comptroller recorded 71 established physician posts in the Israel Prison Service and 17.25 of them unfilled at the time of the audit, on its own count of Prison Service establishment data, and found the gap wider than at the previous audit. Posts are measured in fractions because the roles are part time, so the figure counts posts and not doctors. The State Comptroller also found that half the physicians in the role were past the Prison Service’s own retirement age of 57 for it.
5,369 of about 14,000 inmates were chronically ill in 2020
The State Comptroller counted about 14,000 inmates held by the Israel Prison Service in 2020, and 5,369 of them, 38%, recorded as chronically ill on the Prison Service’s own records as audited. The 14,000 is the audit’s own approximation and carries its hedge, so the share sits against a rounded base.
- 5,369 inmates chronically ill, 38% of about 14,000 held, 2020.
- 297 inmates aged 65 or over, 2% of about 14,000 held, 2020.
- The count of inmates aged 65 or over is up about 30% since 2014, on the State Comptroller’s own comparison.
3 of 43 clinic doctors held board certification
The State Comptroller counted 43 doctors working in Prison Service clinics and 3 of them holding board certification, on the Prison Service’s own personnel data as audited. The same audit records that half the physicians serving in the role were past the Israel Prison Service retirement age of 57 set for it.
| Measure | Count | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Clinic doctors | 43 | At the audit |
| Of whom board certified | 3 | At the audit |
| Physicians past the role’s retirement age of 57 | Half | At the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, follow-up audit of the Prison Service medical system, May 2022.
274,600 inmate medical check-ups were recorded in 2020
The State Comptroller counted 274,600 inmate medical check-ups in 2020 and related that volume to about 19 general practitioner visits per inmate, a derivation the audit makes itself across the inmate population rather than a per patient rate. The audit is a follow-up audit of the Israel Prison Service, and the counts in it are the Comptroller’s own from Prison Service records.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 274,600 | Inmate medical check-ups | 2020 |
| About 19 | General practitioner visits per inmate, the audit’s own derivation | 2020 |
| 16 of 30 | Clinics requiring renovation | At the audit |
| 15 | Inmate suicides, an aggregate over four years | 2017 to 2020 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, follow-up audit of the Prison Service medical system, May 2022.
The audit publishes no breakdown of care by detention status
The State Comptroller published its figures for the Israel Prison Service inmate population as a whole, broken down by chronic illness and by age, and published no count broken down by detention status, and no count of treatment requests, refusals or waiting times for inmates. That absence is what the record carries, and this page records it rather than filling it from elsewhere.
- No inmate figure in the audit is disaggregated by detention status.
- The audit publishes no count of treatment requests, refusals or waiting times inside the Prison Service.
- The State Comptroller published a separate audit in November 2024 on waiting times for specialist medical services, whose universe is the insured members of the four health funds, including a Comptroller survey of 954 insured adults at a 74% response rate. It is a different population and does not combine with the prison figures.
- The Knesset Research and Information Centre published a 2019 review of general hospitalization beds in Israel, whose subject is the general hospital system. Government spending on health is reported in what Israel spends on health and education.
Which figures here may not be added together?
The State Comptroller counts posts, not doctors, so 17.25 and 71 are counts of established posts measured in fractions because the roles are part time. The 274,600 counts check-ups, not patients, and the roughly 19 visits per inmate is the audit’s own derivation across the whole inmate population. The about 14,000 inmate figure is an approximation and every share taken against it inherits that hedge. The 15 suicides are an aggregate across 2017 to 2020 and are cited as an aggregate. The prison figures and the 2024 waiting times figures come from different audits with different universes and are never summed or compared.
Questions readers ask
Who audits medical care in Israeli prisons?
The State Comptroller of Israel, the state audit institution that reports to the Knesset, published the follow-up audit of the Israel Prison Service medical system in May 2022.
How many physician posts does the Prison Service have?
The State Comptroller recorded 71 established physician posts, of which 17.25 were unfilled at the time of the audit, on Prison Service establishment data.
Was the staffing gap narrowing?
The State Comptroller found the physician post gap wider at this follow-up audit than at the previous audit of the same subject.
How many prison clinic doctors hold board certification?
The State Comptroller counted 3 of 43 clinic doctors holding board certification at the time of the audit.
How many inmates were chronically ill?
The State Comptroller recorded 5,369 chronically ill inmates in 2020, 38% of the about 14,000 inmates held that year.
How many inmates were aged 65 or over?
The State Comptroller counted 297 inmates aged 65 or over in 2020, 2% of about 14,000 held, a count up about 30% since 2014 on the Comptroller’s own comparison.
How many medical check-ups were recorded?
The State Comptroller counted 274,600 inmate medical check-ups in 2020.
What is the retirement age for a Prison Service physician?
The State Comptroller reported the Israel Prison Service retirement age for the physician role as 57, and found half the physicians serving past it.
How many clinics needed renovation?
The State Comptroller found 16 of 30 Prison Service clinics requiring renovation at the time of the audit.
How many inmate suicides did the audit record?
The State Comptroller recorded 15 inmate suicides across 2017 to 2020, published as a four year aggregate.
Does the audit separate figures by detention status?
The State Comptroller published the figures for the Prison Service inmate population as a whole and published no breakdown by detention status.
Does the audit cover waiting times in Israel’s general health system?
It does not. The State Comptroller published waiting times for specialist medical services in a separate audit in November 2024, covering members of the four health funds.
Sources
- Knesset Research and Information Centre, 2019. General Hospitalization Beds in Israel. Research review. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. The Medical System for Treating Inmates in the Israel Prison Service, Follow-up Audit. Chapter 210, Ministry of Public Security and Israel Prison Service, May 2022, 57 pages, Hebrew. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. Waiting Times for Specialist Medical Services. Chapter 601, annual report 75A part B, November 2024, 76 pages, Hebrew. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
