Background
Prison healthcare is commissioned by the NHS and delivered by a combination of NHS and private healthcare providers. Prisons have several health services that are provided to patients on-site, including dentistry, opticians and physiotherapy. They also rely on access to services in the local community, for example acute hospitals or screening programmes (such as breast cancer and bowel cancer screening).
HSSIB has spoken to over 20 national organisations, from the healthcare and justice systems, who have highlighted issues within prison healthcare that are regularly raised as patient safety concerns. We have analysed these in a thematic way to form the basis of our investigation. We also have evidence from a previous investigation – ‘Management of chronic health conditions in prisons’ – which is relevant to this thematic investigation. We have been told by multiple organisations that our investigation is timely and that prison healthcare is often under-studied.
Intelligence review
We have multiple evidence sources including:
- interviews with 26 national organisations from across the healthcare and justice systems
- national incident reporting systems
- academic literature
- national publications
- stories from patient advocacy groups
- our previous investigation into prison healthcare.
The investigation
The investigation will examine the following topics:
- emergency care
- continuity of care
- data sharing and IT.
Our investigation team will visit prisons across the country. We will account for all categories of prison, age of buildings, geographical location and look at both male and female prisons. We will identify any cross-cutting themes that affect two or more of the topic areas, looking at these for any patient safety improvements that could be made.
At least one interim report will be published for each topic area, with safety recommendations and safety observations. A final report will be produced which will cover any cross-cutting themes identified by the investigation.