Attack On Prison Mental Health Care

Mental health care and cell overcrowding at a Cambridgeshire prison have been criticised for a second time. An inspection at Littlehey Prison, Perry, said “nothing had changed” since similar findings were disclosed last year.

The report concluded that overall the prison was “well run” – but it reiterated calls for inmates with severe mental illnesses and personality disorders to be moved out of the system. It also said about 20 single cells were being used by two people, and called the situation “unacceptable”.

The inspection, conducted by the Independent Monitoring Board, reached similar findings in its report into the male-only Category C prison, pictured, last year.

James Deacon, board chairman, wrote: “We continue to see significant numbers of prisoners with severe or unacceptable levels of mental health issues and personality disorders who should not be in the prison system.” But he blamed the government for changes not having been implemented.

He said: “The Minister gave us a comprehensive response to this last year with what was and would be happening to investigate the problem. The Board would like to make it clear that nothing has changed – external beds are scarce and the work by the Department of Health to reduce the number of mentally disordered offenders reaching court is not reflected at Littlehey.”

The prison is also “under resourced” to deal with the number of mentally ill prisoners it holds, with no 24 hour mental health support or on-call cover. The report said nothing had been done to make shared single cells “more habitable” and said money is needed for changes to be made.

But there was high praise for prison staff who, the report said, “should be commended for their commitment and effort”. It also said care and treatment of prisoners on drugs and alcohol treatment programmes was exemplary.

On average, the prison housed 696 inmates in the period covered by the report, from February 2006 to January 2007, many of whom are sex offenders and vulnerable prisoners.

A written response to the report by Gerry Sutcliffe, parliamentary under-secretary of state, said the government was working to provide better health and social care for people with mental health problems who come before the courts. He said privacy screening has now been installed at the dual occupancy cells at Littlehey.