Prison health services have significantly improved over the past ten years, a report from PHE has found.
The Rapid review of evidence of the impact on health outcomes of NHS commissioned health services for people in secure and detained settings found that changes made to how healthcare is delivered in the criminal justice system have been beneficial to patients. These changes include the addition of nurse prescribers and other healthcare professionals into criminal justice settings, as well as mandating nurses have a professionally recognised qualification.
Dr. Éamonn O’Moore, National Lead for Health and Justice at PHE, said: ‘We have seen significant improvements in health in prisons since the Department of Health and NHS took over responsibility for commissioning in 2006. There is still work to be done to integrate services and we will continue to work with the National Offender Management Service and NHS England to improve the health of people in prisons and address health inequalities.’
The evidence review identified attributes of a high-quality prison healthcare system. These include: improved continuity of care for people as they transition between prison and the community, greater emphasis on meeting mental health needs, and greater financial resources.
‘The consensus view of the majority of key informants was that prison healthcare services have undergone ‘transformation’ during the ten-year time period of NHS commissioning of prison healthcare since 2006, leading to significant improvements in quality of care,’ said the authors of the report.