PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Guidelines for the clinical management of people refusing food in immigration removal centres and prisons (29th January 2010)
Information, for health professionals in prisons and immigration removal centres, on the physical effects of food refusal, the most effective practical and clinical management of individuals refusing to eat and drink, legal aspects and the relevance of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It also addresses the considerable dangers and risks associated with refeeding individuals who have been starving but who then decide to eat again.
Guidance

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

PALS in prison: a toolkit and good practice guidance for implementing Patient Advice and Liaison Services in a secure setting (23rd December 2009)
Toolkit and good practice guidance covering the implementation of the Patient Advice and Liaison Service in a secure setting. Designed to be read by commissioners and providers of healthcare in the criminal or youth justice sectors.
Toolkit

Get out of jail BBV free! (18th December 2009)
Leaflet on bloodborne viruses for use in prisons.
Leaflet

HEALTH

Improving health, supporting justice: the national delivery plan of the Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board (17th November 2009)
The Government's national delivery plan for health and criminal justice as developed by the Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board, building on Lord Bradley's 2009 review of mental health and learning disability in the criminal justice system. This delivery plan contributes to key Government initiatives around protecting the public, reducing health inequalities, reducing reoffending and health improvement and protection.
Guidance

Tackling Health Related Worklessness (13th November 2009)
The health of the working age population who are out of work forms for focus of this synthesis report. Relevant policy, evidence and intelligence are brought together to highlight to scale of ill health preventing people from working, including policy and examples of best practice interventions for preparing the out of work for employment. A second report focusing on the health and wellbeing of the working age population who are in work will follow in spring 2010.
Report

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

High Impact Changes in Offender settings: Interim Report (15th October 2009)
This report summarises the developments so far with the two health training offender health Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) training the trainer pilots which are being run in Eastern Region Prisons and South Central Probation.

The final report is due March 2010.
Report

NHS

Seeing double: meeting the challenge of dual diagnosis (24th September 2009)
Dual diagnosis is the term used to describe people who have concurrent mental health and substance misuse or alcohol problems. It affects a third of mental health service users, half of substance misuse service users and 70 per cent of prisoners.

This briefing identifies the key issues around dual diagnosis, explains existing policy and makes recommendations on what mental health providers and commissioners should be doing in this area.
Briefing

NHS Pay Review Body. Review for 2010. Information from the Health Departments relevant to the NHSPRB's consideration of the three year pay deal (25th September 2009)
Written and statistical evidence from the Health Departments for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Document

Improving care, reducing cost. Helping the NHS meet its 21st Century challenge (September 2009)
The debate about the future financing and organisation of the NHS is taking off once again, fuelled by the forthcoming general election, concern about the UK’s record budget deficit and worries about the quality of patient care. The use of management consultants by the NHS has been the focus of much attention, particularly in the wake of the recently leaked McKinsey report on how the NHS can reduce costs.

The Management Consultancies Association’s (MCA) report on management consulting and the NHS, Improving care, reducing cost, contains the first authoritative analysis of how much the NHS spends on management consultancy and the types of work that management consultants do. It is based on detailed research with MCA member companies, and contains a series of case studies. In addition to analysing the NHS’s spending on management consultancy, the MCA has asked its members to explain the work that they do with the NHS, why they think this work is valuable and how it fits with a future of healthcare that needs to deliver high quality care at a cost the UK taxpayer is able and willing to.
Report

ARTICLE - Early in-hospital mortality following trainee doctors' first day at work (23rd September 2009)
People admitted to English hospitals in an emergency on the first Wednesday in August have, on average, a six percent higher mortality rate than people admitted on the previous Wednesday, according to research published in PLoS One today.
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PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Guidelines for the clinical management of people refusing food in immigration removal centres and prisons (28th August 2009)
Information, for health professionals in prisons and immigration removal centres, on the physical effects of food refusal, the most effective practical and clinical management of individuals refusing to eat and drink, legal aspects and the relevance of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It also addresses the considerable dangers and risks associated with refeeding individuals who have been starving but who then decide to eat again.
Guidance

Securing Employment for Offenders with Mental Health Problems. Towards a Better Way (2nd September 2009)
Enabling a person with a history of offending to get and keep a job is probably the most effective intervention anyone can make to prevent reoffending and improve their chances of leading a better life.

This policy paper examines how to improve the employment prospects of offenders with mental health problems.
Paper

DRUGS

Breaking the Link (6th August 2009)
This report, from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, examines how the drug treatment system is expanding and working closely with criminal justice agencies to ensure that problem drug users in prisons have the same quality of treatment as those in the community. It is also about the efforts being made to ensure that all those who come into treatment through criminal justice routes get the opportunity to recover and reintegrate back into society.
Report

Routes to Recovery (3rd August 2009)
A summary of the latest resources in the Routes to Recovery series is now available. These include good practice guides on diversity, clinical governance and towards successful treatment completion.
Summary

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Working with Older Prisoners (31st July 2009)
The Nacro and Department of Health Working with Older Prisoners pack was created so that peer support workers, disability liaison officers, older offender and wing officers could use its contents to implement good practice ideas and set up activities in their establishments for older prisoners. It is also intended to act as a useful reference on different organisations to encourage prison workers to contact other agencies for information and improve the quality of their information, advice and guidance service for older prisoners. The pack should also be used to raise awareness among colleagues of the health problems the older prisoner population is prone to and of some of the practical things they can do to make their lives easier.
Resource Pack

Mental Health Care and the Criminal Justice System - Briefing Paper 39 (22nd July 2009)
The quality of mental health care available in our prisons is frequently poor.

This briefing paper provides an overview of the mental health care available in prisons. It examines how mental health problems are identified in prison, how prison inreach teams work, transfers to NHS care, alternatives to prison, and what care is available to prisoners after their release.
Paper

MENTAL HEALTH

A Future Vision for Mental Health (7th July 2009)
This report sets out a new vision for the future of mental health and well-being in England. Based on four principles, it outlines the priorities the Future Vision Coalition believe should underpin mental health policy for the next decade.
Report

The Bradley report and the Government's response (Briefing 38) (21st July 2009)
The Bradley Report made 82 recommendations to improve the treatment of people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system. The Government's response accepted almost all of the recommendations in full or in principle.

This briefing paper examines these reports in terms of the mental health of offenders. It is our assessment of and response to their recommendations.
Briefing Paper

Moving on Up (June 2009)
‘Moving on up’ reveals the barriers that are preventing patients with mild or moderate depression from accessing exercise on prescription. They include funding constraints within local government and primary care trusts, and that many GPs simply aren’t aware that exercise schemes are available in their area.
Report

COMMISSIONING

World class commissioning monthly update May 2009 (28th May 2009)
Monthly progress report on the world class commissioning programme.
Update

Commissioning mental health care in the criminal justice system: 10 top tips for PCT Boards (3rd June 2009)
Every year, primary care trusts in England commission health care for an average of 500 prisoners, 1,000 community sentenced offenders and some 10,000 people who are arrested by the police.

The Bradley Report laid down a challenge to the NHS to improve the quality of mental health care it offers to prisoners and offenders.

This brief guide sets out 10 questions PCT board members can ask to find out how well their PCT is serving prisoners and offenders in their area.
Brief

The Intelligent Board 2009: Commissioning to reduce inequalities (11th June 2009)
This new report, launched yesterday at the NHS Confederation conference in Liverpool, is produced by an independent reference group of experts and supported by Dr Foster. The report challenges Primary Care Trust (PCT) Boards to ask difficult questions about their understanding of health inequalities and offers solutions about how Boards might answer them.

The report is also supported by a website.
Document
Website

Primary Care Service Framework: Alcohol (May 2009)
This framework has been updated to include recent policy changes and includes enhanced tools to support implemenation.
Framework

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Information book for prisoners with a disability (5th June 2009)
Offender Health and the Prison Reform Trust have recently published two new information books for prisoners with a disability. The first book is a short, easy-read version (blue book) for prisoners with learning disabilities,the second book (purple book) contains more in depth detail for prisoners on their health, daily life, and how to get help in prison and on release.
Document

NURSING

Health and nursing care in the criminal justice service. RCN guidance for nursing staff (11th May 2009)
The role of health care nurses in the criminal justice service is varied, complex and often challenging. This guide will help you to access up to date information, toolkits and sources of advice to assist you in your work. It is a resource to support the delivery of high quality services to people in a broad range of environments, from police custody to high security prisons in all four UK countries. This guide replaces the 2002 Royal College of Nursing publication, Nursing in Prisons, and highlights the specific health and nursing care needs of offenders.
Guide

Guidance on uniforms and work wear (11th May 2009)
This updated guidance sets out information on issues related to the selection, wearing and decontamination of uniforms or clothing worn in the delivery of patient care and is aimed at nurses and their employers. It can be applied to all settings in which health care takes place and for any clothing worn when undertaking patient care activities.
Guidance

Raising concerns, raising standards (11th May 2009)
This booklet from the RCN is to inform nurses how they can help and support them to give the best care they can and to help nurses protect patients if they raise concerns over patient care.
Booklet

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Lord Bradley's review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system (30th April 2009)
This independent review was commissioned to examine the extent to which offenders with mental health problems or learning disabilities could, in appropriate cases, be diverted from prison to other services and the barriers to such diversion. The review has kept a broad remit and incorporated the range of mental health problems and learning disabilities across the whole of the criminal justice system, and made recommendations to government including the organisation of effective liaison and diversion arrangements and the services needed to support them.
Report

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

A guide for the management of dual diagnosis for prisons (9th April 2009)
Dual diagnosis, the co-existence of mental health and substance misuse problems, has a higher prevlaence in prisons than in the general community. This document provides good practice guidance to commissioners and practitioners on the management of dual diagnosis within a prison setting.
Guidance

MENTAL HEALTH

Arrangements under paragraph 183(4) of Schedule A1 to the Mental Capacity Act 005 between the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers (1st April 2009)
These arrangements set out, that where questions about a person's ordinary residence arise in relations to which local authority should act as the supervisory body, the Secretary of State will determine cross-border ordinary residence disputes between England and Wales where the person to whom the dispute relates is accommodated in a care home in England.
Guidance

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and you (31st March 2009)
Hospitals, care homes, local authorities and Primary Care Trusts have a statutory duty under Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (MCA DOLS) legislation to make sure that the person made subject to the authorisation and assessment process is supported to understand what is happening to them. This information, from the Department of Health, is for the relevant person and should be distributed at the provider's discretion.
Documents

A Missed Opportunity? (26th March 2009)
This report, by Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, shows that few people are given a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) by the courts because it is poorly understood and is prone to long delays. The MHTR is one of 12 possible requirements for all people given a community sentence in England and Wales, although it is rarely used in practice.
Report

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Guidance notes: prison health performance and quality indicators (27th March 2009)
These guidance notes support the collection of national Prison Health Performance Indicators. The document contains statements of good practice, rationale for the inclusion of the indicators, suggests evidence that may be gathered to support the indicators and offers links to evidence sets for further information
Guidance

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION

Spotlight on complaints 2009: a report on second-stage complaints about the NHS in England (16th February 2009)

This Healthcare Commission report says that some NHS trusts are still not responding to complaints effectively or learning lessons from them. The commission has made 12 key recommendations to all NHS trusts to improve the way they resolve complaints in the new two-tier complaints handling system which will replace the current three-tier procedure from 1st April 2009.
Report

Actions speak louder (12th February 2009)

The Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) published this report looking at healthcare services delivered by local Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) in the community and when young people move into and out of custody. Findings from the report include:

• Health assessments of young offenders or those likely to offend, frequently did not contain all relevant health information and young people often did not receive the healthcare they needed.
• The health needs of a young person can affect how they are sentenced.
• 70% of young people in custody with substance misuse problems had appropriate planned support, suggesting that 30% did not.
• Of the YOTs inspected, only two did not meet the statutory requirement of having a PCT health representative on local YOT management boards, however 16% of health representatives did not always attend board meetings and 12% did not contribute sufficiently.
• Ten per cent of the YOTs inspected did not provide sufficient and appropriate healthcare to young people following release from custody
• Primary care trusts did not provide adequate resources in almost half of the YOTs inspected.

Report

Commissioning healthcare in prisons (12th February 2009)
The results of joint work between the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons in 2007/08 - This report gives the findings from the inspections of prisons during 2007/08 relating to the delivery of healthcare and the management of substance misuse. It gives recommendations for primary care trusts on how to improve services.
Report

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

Too Little Too Late: an independent review of unmet mental health need in prison (4th February 2009)
This report, published by the Prison Reform Trust, draws on information and evidence provided by the Independent Monitoring Boards of 57 prisons. The report reveals that many people who should have been diverted into mental health or social care from police stations or courts are entering prisons which are ill equipped to meet their needs and then being discharged back into the community with any support.
Report
Summary

PRISONS

On the Outside: Continuity of care for people leaving prison (2nd December 2008)
Continuity of care is vital in all areas of health care. For released prisoners with mental health problems it is especially important to help them get their lives back on track on the outside. On the Outside, published by Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, finds that many released prisoners quickly lose touch with the services that are supposed to support them. Many prisoners do not know where they will be living on release. Some end up on relatives' sofas. Others go to hostels where they fear getting back into drug habits, or they end up on the streets.
Publication

PRISONS/PRISON HEALTH

A review of the use of offending behaviour programmes for people with mental health problems (12th November 2008)
Offending behaviour programmes (OBPs) aim to change the way offenders think in order to change their offending behaviour. This review finds that many programmes are poorly adapted to the needs of people with mental health problems and that they fail to address the most common causes of offending, such as lack of a home and lack of a job. The review calls for programmes to be made more accessible to prisoners with mental health problems and relevant to people's lives.
Review