“Prisoners with mental health problems will be treated inside jails rather than in hospitals “

Mental health units to be set up inside prisons

Plans being considered by the Government will see inmates treated in specialist mental health units inside prisons in future

harry-street_3063396bHarry Street pictured during sentencing and in 1978 Photo: Newsteam/PA

By: Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent,   26 Oct 2014

Prisoners with mental health problems will be treated inside jails rather than in hospitals under plans being considered by the Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary.

A consultation due to begin next month is expected to explore the possibility of building specialist units within existing prisons to house and treat inmates with a range of mental health issues.

At the moment prisoners with acute mental problems can to be transferred to secure hospitals, with the most dangerous inmates moving to Broadmoor, Rampton or Ashworth.

But many others receive little or no professional help for their problems and often end up reoffending once they are released.

Mr Grayling has expressed his determination to see inmates with mental health problems receive the same care and treatment as they would if they were on the outside at an NHS facility.

But the units could also provide judges with more options when sentencing those diagnosed with mental health problems.

Under the current system someone who is confirmed to have been suffering from a mental illness at the time of a crime is treated as a patient rather than a prisoner and can be released from hospital as soon as they are well.

The problem was highlighted recently when it emerged that Barry Williams, 70, who shot five people dead in 1978 following a neighbourhood dispute, had been released from Broadmoor after 16-years because the doctors said his mental health problems had been addressed.

Last month a judge ordered that he be detained at a secure hospital indefinitely after it was discovered that he was planning to shoot a former neighbour he had accused of being too noisy.

The families of his original victims said it was a scandal that he had been let out in the first place and said he should have been transferred to a mainstream prison once his mental illness had been stabilised.

Mr Grayling’s plan to set up specialist units inside prisons would mean that inmates could easily transferred between a mainstream jail and a psychiatric unit depending on their state of mind.

At a meeting last week between Home Office officials and mental health experts, it was agreed that a five month consultation would begin in the coming weeks, with sources suggesting the plan could eventually see units operating in as many as one in three mainstream prisons.

But criminal justice experts have expressed some concern about the proposals, not least because they believe staffing the units could prove problematic.

Explaining his thinking Mr Grayling said: I want to see prisoners getting support that is every bit as good as that which they would receive from the NHS in the community.

“We will explore the best way to deliver this, which could include specialist centres for mental health within our criminal justice system.”

Harry Fletcher, a former assistant general secretary at the probation union, Napo, and now director of the Digital-Trust, a charity that campaigns against online abuse, said he had reservations about the proposals.

He said: “Plans to open mental health units in prisons will be very controversial. You can only treat someone compulsorily in a hospital so it will need a change in the law.

“The units will also be difficult to manage because of the volatile nature of this group of prisoners. However it is of great concern that that some murderers deemed mentally ill can serve such very short sentences that this needs to be addressed in any consultation.”

But the units could also provide judges with more options when sentencing those diagnosed with mental health problems.

Under the current system someone who is confirmed to have been suffering from a mental illness at the time of a crime is treated as a patient rather than a prisoner and can be released from hospital as soon as they are well.

The problem was highlighted recently when it emerged that Barry Williams, 70, who shot five people dead in 1978 following a neighbourhood dispute, had been released from Broadmoor after 16-years because the doctors said his mental health problems had been addressed.

Last month a judge ordered that he be detained at a secure hospital indefinitely after it was discovered that he was planning to shoot a former neighbour he had accused of being too noisy.

The families of his original victims said it was a scandal that he had been let out in the first place and said he should have been transferred to a mainstream prison once his mental illness had been stabilised.

Mr Grayling’s plan to set up specialist units inside prisons would mean that inmates could easily transferred between a mainstream jail and a psychiatric unit depending on their state of mind.

At a meeting last week between Home Office officials and mental health experts, it was agreed that a five month consultation would begin in the coming weeks, with sources suggesting the plan could eventually see units operating in as many as one in three mainstream prisons.

But criminal justice experts have expressed some concern about the proposals, not least because they believe staffing the units could prove problematic.

Explaining his thinking Mr Grayling said: I want to see prisoners getting support that is every bit as good as that which they would receive from the NHS in the community.

“We will explore the best way to deliver this, which could include specialist centres for mental health within our criminal justice system.”

Harry Fletcher, a former assistant general secretary at the probation union, Napo, and now director of the Digital-Trust, a charity that campaigns against online abuse, said he had reservations about the proposals.

He said: “Plans to open mental health units in prisons will be very controversial. You can only treat someone compulsorily in a hospital so it will need a change in the law.

“The units will also be difficult to manage because of the volatile nature of this group of prisoners. However it is of great concern that some murderers deemed mentally ill can serve such very short sentences that this needs to be addressed in any consultation.”

Credit: The Telegraph Newspaper:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11187062/Mental-health-units-to-be-set-up-inside-prisons.html

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