Prison healthcare - Inside Job
With 80 per cent of prisoners suffering mental health problems, PCTs are facing an enormous task when they take on prison health services in April next year. Emma Forrest looks at how specialist teams are preparing for the task ahead.
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Background information

“The Prison Reform Trust estimates that 90 per cent of prisoners can be diagnosed as suffering with one of the 5 main categories of mental disorder: psychosis, neurosis, personality disorder, alcohol misuse, and drug dependency….”
Chapter 15 Mental Health Care in Prisons, HC 193-1
House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Rehabilitation of Prisoners First Report... Vol. 1, The Home Office (2005)[PDF]

Changing the Outlook: A strategy for Developing and Modernising Mental Health Services in Prisons’
Department of Health, Her Majesty’s Prison Service and The National Assembly for Wales (2001)

Health in Criminal Justice Partnership
The key focus for the Health and Criminal Justice programme is on the health and social care needs of those who are 'offenders' in all parts of the Health and Criminal Justice and Social Care system, as well as those who, though not offenders, share some of the same profile and characteristics of the offender group.
Care Services Improvement Partnership

Psychiatric Morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales – A Summary
National Office of Statistics (1997)

Mental Health and Social Exclusion: Social Exclusion Unit Report
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2004)

Prison Reform Trust
The Prison Reform Trust began a major programme of work on mental health in prisons in 2000. The mental health needs of the prison population are well-established. The problem remains that these needs are not met.

National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) is responsible for supporting the implementation of positive change in mental health and mental health services. Each of NIMHE's eight regional development centres has its own prison mental health lead.