Prison mental health services

Abstract

This contribution describes current and future prison mental health service provision in England and Wales. There is a need for the development of multidisciplinary prison health care services, including greater coordination of care, continuity of care between the community and prison, improved information-sharing between agencies and developed care planning for prisoners with mental health problems. Recently, a formal partnership between the Prison Service and the NHS has been established, with the NHS taking responsibility for health care provision in prisons. Central to this debate is the notion of prisoners receiving an equivalence of care to that given to the general public by the NHS, in terms of quality and range of services. The benefits of the NHS taking responsibility for prison health care include common standards of care and continuity of care planning between the community and prison, and vice versa. It remains to be seen how these innovative reforms to the provision of health care in prisons will change the standards of care for prisoners. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the new services will be required to establish whether the change has been beneficial to both prisoners and staff.