Member

If you actually read chief inspector Charlie Taylor’s graphic description of seriously mentally ill people in prisons, it is like something horrible from Victorian nightmares. Anyone who works in prisons will tell you that one of the hardest and most difficult things is the danger that those people pose—in terms of either self-harm or psychosis—to themselves, other prisoners and staff. They need hospital treatment, yet the same inspectors note the dire state of healthcare provision in prisons, with an emphasis on staff shortages, particularly in relation to mental health. That strikes me as being one reason to make sure that we change that situation and ensure people get the healthcare that they need.