Abstract
Major reform of health care provision for prisoners in England and Wales requires the National Health Service (NHS) to have a greater role in treating mental health problems in this population. People in prison are entitled to have access to the same range and quality of NHS services as the general
Highlights
Major reform of health care provision for prisoners in England and Wales requires the National Health Service (NHS) to have a greater role in treating mental health problems in this population
England and Wales falls into this category, with an imprisonment rate of 139 per 100 000, this is above the mid-point in the world list and it is the highest rate in the European Union
Russia used to lead the world in terms of imprisonment rates, but reforms to the Russian prison system have resulted in the imprisonment rate falling from over 700 per 100 000 in the early 1990s to a current figure of around 640 per 100 000
Summary
Major reform of health care provision for prisoners in England and Wales requires the National Health Service (NHS) to have a greater role in treating mental health problems in this population. In 2000, the NHS entered into a formal partnership with the Prison Service and it is anticipated that the NHS will eventually assume full responsibility for prison health care. Psychiatric care for prisoners with serious mental health problems has been within the domain of medical officers employed by the Prison Service and visiting psychiatrists, most often those working in the forensic field. In the future it is likely that general adult psychiatric services, and psychiatrists working in other fields such as substance misuse and child and adolescent mental health, will be called upon to have a much greater role in prisons
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