Health in Justice update

We were recently commissioned by NHS England and Improvement to deliver 2 engagement projects to support and inform their annual inspection of prison healthcare services. One project required us to engage with patients and HMPPS staff to gather patient experience using the healthcare service and HMPPS staff experience working in partnership with the healthcare provider. The other project focused on patients who used general healthcare, substance misuse, and mental health pathways.

We worked closely with HMPSS and healthcare staff to recruit staff and patients to take part in the engagement, using focus groups and interviews to gather feedback.

Against challenging timescales and lockdown restrictions, two reports were delivered that set-out themes from the feedback and that has contributed to the process of quality visits to healthcare in the two custodial settings.

Patients reported that they were appreciative of the opportunity to share their experiences of using the various aspects of the healthcare service, and NHSE/I advised us that the feedback was invaluable in focusing their quality visits, and in informing how they structure future patient engagement projects.

We look forward to more work with NHSE/I, engaging with patients, and providing insight to their experiences of accessing and using healthcare services in prison settings.