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John Reed (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AT, UK) worked as a psychiatrist before joining the Department of Health. He chaired the Department of Health/Home Office Review of Services for Mentally Disordered Offenders, High Security Psychiatric Care and of Psychopathic Disorder. Since September 1996 he has been the Chief Medical Inspector in Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.
In some few jails are confined idiots and lunatics, many of the bridewells are crowded and offensive, because the rooms which were designed for prisoners are occupied by lunatics. The insane, when they are not kept separate, disturb and terrify other prisoners. No care is taken of them, although it is probable that by medicines, and proper regimen, some of them might be restored to their senses, and usefulness in life (Howard, 1784: pp. 1011).
I have always found it strange that a patient [in prison] suffering from a medical emergency can be in the nearby general hospital within 30 minutes but if they are floridly psychotic it takes 30 days at least to find an appropriate disposal (senior medical officer in a large local prison, May 2000).
On 14 December 2001 there were 68 088 people detained in prison in England and Wales. The prison population has risen steeply in recent years and is projected to rise even further, reaching more than 92 000 by 2005 (White & Powar, 1998) (Fig 1
). Mental health problems are common among prisoners and about 5000 have a psychotic illness (Singleton et al, 1998). Many would be much more appropriately cared for in the National Health Service (NHS) (Coid 1988; Brooke et al, 1996). Psychiatrists can help to prevent people with mental disorders from being detained inappropriately in prison and improve their mental health care while they are in prison. The purpose of this paper is to help psychiatrists to overcome some of the problems that they often encounter when visiting prisons.
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| Box 1 Why do prisons exist? Prisons exist for:
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| What sorts of prisoners and prisons are there? |
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| Box 2 The categories of prisoners in England and Wales Category A Prisoners whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, to the police or to national security; the most dangerous may be categorised as exceptional risk prisoners Category B Prisoners not requiring the highest conditions of security but for whom escape must be made very difficult Category C Prisoners who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who do not have the will or resources to make a determined escape attempt Category D Prisoners who can be trusted to serve their sentence in open conditions
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| Medical services in prisons |
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| What are the policy objectives for prison health care? |
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| Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners |
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| Box 3 Mental health among prisoners Prisoners, both remand and sentenced, have very high levels of psychiatric morbidity compared with the general population Nine out of ten prisoners show evidence of one or more mental disorder Ten per cent of men on remand and 14% of all female prisoners had shown signs of psychotic illness in the year prior to interview in prison (compared with 0.4% in the general household population) Over a quarter of female remand prisoners reported attempting suicide in the preceding year and 2% of both male and female remand prisoners reported having attempted suicide in the week before interview Fifty-eight per cent of male and 36% of female remand prisoners met the criteria for previous hazardous drinking and 66% of remanded women had misused drugs in the year prior to entry into prison
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| Why are there so many people with mental illness in prison? |
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Changes in society and in the scale and nature of offending make it unlikely that there is any simple explanation for the presence of so many people with mental illness in prison. Research has shown a number of factors that make it more likely that those with mental disorder, particularly mental illness, will be remanded to prison. People with mental disorder are more likely than those without mental disorder in similar circumstances to be arrested (Teplin, 1984). Not only are people with mental illness who commit acts of violence perceived as more dangerous simply by virtue of their mental illness, but remand is also more likely, even when lesser offending occurs in association with mental illness (Taylor & Gunn, 1984). Other factors relating to an individual's immediate circumstances and which may be consequent on mental illness, such as homelessness, also make remand more likely (Michaels et al, 1992). Once a person with mental illness has come into contact with the criminal justice system the shortage of acute general psychiatric beds and the very slow development of the secure psychiatric bed programme (Department of Health & Home Office, 1993) and its continuing inadequacy (James, 1999) makes it very difficult to move many patients to more appropriate placements.
| Roles for psychiatrists |
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Effective follow-up of patients and the reduction of offending
The ONS study (Singleton et al, 1998) showed that the very great majority of people with mental illness in prison, particularly those with the most serious disorders, had been in contact with the NHS and other services before they entered prison. Sixty-five per cent of male and 79% of female remand prisoners with psychosis had been in touch with mental health services before coming into prison. There is great scope, through better application of the Care Programme Approach and risk assessment, for preventing those with serious mental illness falling out from care and entering prison (Shaw et al, 2001). This needs to be coupled with a clear agreement about the roles and responsibilities of local general psychiatric and regional forensic psychiatric services in relation to patients involved with the criminal justice system.
Diversion from the criminal justice system
If a person with mental disorder from your catchment area comes into contact with the criminal justice system, you should have a central role in assessing and, whenever appropriate, diverting him or her back to the NHS.
At the police station
An alleged offender's first contact with the criminal justice system will be with the police. Studies of populations in custody in London police stations show high rates of mental disorder. Keyes et al (1995) suggested that 1.9% of those passing through one central London station presented with overt symptoms of mental illness. A report to the Home Office (Robertson et al, 1995) shows that 2.7% of those admitted to custody suites in London had some form of mental illness and 1.4% demonstrated symptoms of a serious nature. Similar and higher levels have been found outside London, with serious psychiatric disorder in 6.6% of 1460 held in custody overnight (Shaw et al, 1999). But schemes to assess and, if appropriate, divert patients with mental disorder at the level of first contact with the criminal justice system are not always effective (James, 2000) and not all custody suites are covered.
All services should operate effective assessment and diversion schemes at all police stations in their area.
At court
If diversion at the police station fails or is found inappropriate, the next opportunity, if prosecution follows, is at the magistrate's court. A recent review (National Schizophrenia Fellowship, 1999) showed that there were 118 schemes covering courts, although other reviews (Home Office, 1997) have suggested there are up to 150 court schemes. But there are 90 crown courts and some 340 magistrates' courts and the great majority of diversion schemes operate on a part-time basis only.
Research by HM Inspectorate of Prisons showed that of the 47 prisons taking unsentenced prisoners, only 17% had court diversion schemes operating in all the courts they served. Only 21% of prisons covered areas where 75% or more of courts had diversion schemes and15% of prisons had less than 20% coverage. Worst served were three prisons where only 8% of courts operated diversion schemes. (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2000). Consequently, many people with mental disorder come into prison without full assessment and, if appropriate, diversion to health and social care. The effectiveness of diversion schemes is frequently limited by lack of suitable places to which to divert MDOs (James et al, 1998; James, 1999, 2000). Court assessment and diversion schemes covering all sessions of all courts should operate in all areas.
In prison
Once a patient with serious mental illness enters prison it becomes much more difficult to arrange transfer to more appropriate care. First, there is a problem with detecting illness. Many prisoners with serious mental health problems are not detected during the process of reception into prison. Of those compulsorily admitted to hospital through a court assessment scheme after a period of remand, 39% had not been recognised as ill at the remand prison (Hudson et al, 1995). A study comparing screening by research workers and routine prison reception screening (Birmingham et al, 1998) found that routine screening failed to detect any indication of mental health problems in three-quarters of the remand prisoners identified by research workers. Even prisoners with psychotic disorders were no more likely to be identified than those with less serious conditions. Since the detection rate for serious mental illness at reception is so low, many seriously ill patients are placed in the general wings of a prison on normal location where even those who have psychoses are liable to remain undetected and untreated. There is some evidence that, although negative on health screening, discipline staff do recognise the abnormal behaviour of such prisoners (Birmingham, 1999) but believe that nothing can be done beyond containment (Hargreaves, 1997).
Even when mental illness is identified in prison there is cause for concern. The Inspectorate has found that in many prisons health care is of low quality, some doctors were not adequately trained to do the work they face and some care fails to meet proper ethical standards (Box 4
). Prison health care standards were often not met or were simply ignored (Reed & Lyne, 1997). The care of prisoners admitted as in-patients to prison health care centres is a matter of particular concern. In a survey of 13 in-patient units the Inspectorate found that no doctor in charge of in-patients with mental illness had completed specialist psychiatric training, only a quarter of nurses were trained in mental health and 32% were non-nurse trained health care officers. Patients had a very restricted regime with very limited opportunities for any therapy except medication (Reed & Lyne, 2000). Input from clinical psychologists and from occupational therapists to mental health care in prisons was very rare.
| Box 4 Health care in prisons Health care services in prisons are rarely up to NHS standards Primary care is often given by doctors who are not trained GPs Primary care teams are virtually non-existent Most prison in-patients have mental health problems but are usually not under the day-to-day care of psychiatrists, and multi-disciplinary teams are non-existent Many patients with psychosis requiring in-patient treatment wait for months for transfer to the NHS because of shortage of secure beds
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Psychiatrists working in prisons can play an important part not only in ensuring that these people with serious mental illness get appropriate treatment in an appropriate setting but also in educating all prison staff (not just health care staff) in the identification and management of mental disorder in prisoners. The Inspectorate has estimated that, if placement were determined by clinical need, a third of prison in-patients (some 500 patients) would be transferred to NHS psychiatric care, mainly to medium secure care. Nearly all prisons have psychiatrists who attend on a sessional basis; one or two have psychiatrists working either part-time or full-time. Most of these arrangements are long-standing and have been arranged between the prison and individual psychiatrists, sometimes without consideration as to whether the psychiatrist in question is suitably qualified and experienced. Prison governors tend to consider any doctor with some psychiatric experience and perhaps with a DPM as a fully trained psychiatrist. The Inspectorate has found prisons where the only psychiatric input is from non-consultant grade psycho-geriatricians or learning disability psychiatrists backgrounds that seem to us to be unlikely to give the experience to deal with the very disturbed patients often found in prisons. Most sessional psychiatrists working in prisons work single-handedly as private practitioners and any element of supervision is very rare indeed. Psychiatrists should help to define the appropriate level of experience, training and supervision needed by psychiatrists working in prisons. Contracts with trusts rather than individual doctors should be encouraged.
| Frequent problems and suggested solutions |
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Below are my suggestions for how to solve some problems you and the prison may encounter (see Box 5
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| Box 5 Seeing a patient in prison Telephone the day before the booked appointment to check that the patient is still there and will be available for interview Accept that security checks are essential before you can enter the prison Do not accept excuses if the patient is not available Do not accept the non-availability of the inmate's medical record Do not tolerate sexist or racist behaviour or talk If you meet problems, insist on seeing the senior medical officer or the health care manager; if they cannot help, see the duty governor; if she or he also cannot help, see the governing (Number 1) governor Transfer your patient to the NHS quickly for the sake of his or her health and safety
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What to expect from the prison
Why do I find that I arrive at a prison to find that my patient has moved and nobody has told me?
Moves within the prison system often happen suddenly. Always ring the day before you are due to go to the prison and check that you are expected, that the patient has not been transferred elsewhere and that the notes will be available. Check also that the prisoner does not have a legal or domestic visit booked. The prisoner will chose these in preference to seeing you!
Why do I have to travel to a prison hundreds of miles from where I work and where the patient lives, turning a couple of hours consultation into a day's work?
Some prisons will now arrange for patients to be transferred temporarily to a prison near to your service to speed assessment. Check if this is possible. However, you will lose input from staff who have known the patient for longer.
When I arrive at the prison I'm told that all staff are involved in a training day and I cant be admitted.
When you book your time to see a patient get an assurance that the prison will be operating normally then and record the name of the person from whom you got this assurance. Check this the day before you go. If there is still a problem, ask to see the duty governor.
I'm kept waiting at the prison gate for ages while my escort arrives.
If you attend the prison regularly it may be worth your while to ask to undergo key training to allow the prison to issue you with your own set of keys. This will enable you to go unescorted to the health care centre. Some psychiatrists fear that having keys will result in prisoners identifying them with prison staff; in my experience this does not happen.
When I get to the health care centre I'm told the patient cant be unlocked because of staff shortages and would I mind interviewing the patient through the hatch
This is unacceptable except in the most extreme circumstances. Ask to see the senior medical officer and/or the health care manager. If this does not work, demand to see the governor.
I am subjected to sexist remarks and upset by the sexist attitudes and actions of prison staff
Sometimes psychiatrists are subjected to sexist remarks and sexist attitudes or actions by prison staff of either gender. The extent of the problem can vary from being stared at inappropriately, through sexual innuendo, comments and jokes to experiencing an over enthusiastic rub down search. Prevention is the key to dealing with this common problem. It is essential to retain professional boundaries at all times; this includes behaving and dressing in a professional manner. Some psychiatrists chose to ignore relatively inoffensive sexist remarks or comments, at least in the first instance. Failure to respond tends to minimise any gain for the person who made the remark. If sexist remarks or behaviour cause offence, a quiet word with the individual concerned is often enough to prevent any repetition and gives the person concerned an opportunity to apologise. More serious harassment should always be reported to a senior member of the prison staff and a letter giving details of the complaint should be sent to the governor so that it can be dealt with directly by the Prison Service. Educational supervisors should facilitate discussion about possible sexual harassment during supervision sessions and give practical advice whenever necessary.
Similarly, psychiatrists may encounter an anti-psychiatry attitude from some staff who think that psychiatrists tend to absolve offenders from their just punishment. Deal with this as with sexist remarks and actions (see Box 5
).
What the prison and the patient expect from you and the NHS
From the patient's and the prison's perspective, the problem is to get a rapid assessment and, if appropriate, rapid transfer to NHS care or, if transfer is not appropriate, to get specialist advice on management in prison. Prisons and patients with mental illness in prisons encounter problems in the following areas.
Deciding which service/consultant is responsible
Uncertainty on area of residence/area of offending rules causes endless problems and delays. Even when the responsible service is clear, identifying the appropriate consultant can be difficult. Patients and prisons expect that you and your consultant colleagues will have worked out how to respond to requests from prisons.
Waiting a long time for a psychiatrist to visit
Patients often wait weeks or even months before a psychiatrist arrives to do a first assessment. Patients and prisons expect that MDOs wait for an initial assessment no longer than clinically comparable patients in the community.
Disputes within the NHS psychiatric service
After assessment and agreement that transfer to the NHS is appropriate, a common problem is that differences of opinion arise about the level of security a patient needs. It is common for patients to wait in prison while they are passed back and forth from local service to medium secure service to special hospitals and back again. I have found prisoners with serious mental illness waiting in prison where treatment is entirely inadequate for over a year while this debate goes on. Patients and prisons expect that there is a method of speedily resolving these disputes.
Delays in transfer once accepted
Even when accepted for transfer, patients can wait for months in prison, again largely untreated, until a suitable bed is available. The longest wait I have found from acceptance to transfer was 20 months pending admission to Broadmoor. A recent visit to a young offenders institution showed that at least 10 young people were awaiting transfer to the NHS and that the average waiting time was 82 days. I have found only one forensic mental health service able promptly to transfer out patients with serious mental illness from their local prison. Patients in prison tend to be given a low priority compared with others awaiting admission to the very stretched secure psychiatric service because once in prison they are considered to be in a place of safety and getting some treatment in our view this is a misperception. Eighty-one prisoners committed suicide in 2000 and admission to the prison's health care centre does not protect from suicide around a quarter of all suicides in prison take place in the health care centre (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 1999). When seeing a patient in prison psychiatrists should enquire closely about the patient's day in prison and what therapy apart from medication is available. Very often they will find that their patient is locked in his or her room for 20 hours a day with no meaningful therapeutic activity. They should, in addition to interviewing their patient, also look at the conditions in which he or she lives while in prison. During a recent visit I found a prison health care centre with 10 in-patients awaiting transfer to the NHS. Several had no furnishing in their room besides a concrete plinth bed with an uncovered foam mattress and no blankets. This was not for clinical reasons but because the prison had not bothered to replace broken furniture.
Remember that prison health care centres are, quite rightly, not recognised as hospitals for the purposes of the Mental Health Act 1983 and so treatment cannot be given without consent except in emergencies under common law. Often, patients waiting in prison for transfer to the NHS have to be allowed to deteriorate until their condition is so severe that intervention under common law can be justified. Patients will expect you to take account of these legal restrictions and the very limited facilities for care in prison when you prioritise admissions.
Writing reports
Many reports by psychiatrists visiting patients in prison at the request of the prison health care service are excellent and provide a very valuable history, mental state assessment, differential diagnosis and suggested treatments. A significant minority, however, are of very much lower quality and often fail to provide the guidance that prison health care staff need to manage their patient. Some reports from visiting psychiatrists that I read are so bad that I, as a psychiatrist rather than as an inspector, find them an embarrassment. Some visiting psychiatrists are in fact not psychiatrists, never having completed specialist training. Patients and prisons expect that visiting psychiatrists are fully trained (or are supervised by a trained psychiatrist), have kept their skills up to date through continuing professional development and have had specific training in writing reports.
In short, prison is a bad place for most people with serious mental illness. Their illness may not be detected and even if a serious mental health problem is uncovered, appropriate management and placement is far from certain. Delays in transfer to NHS hospitals, poor communication between prisons, courts and hospitals, and the rapidly changing remand population, means that patients often get inadequate treatment and can easily slip through the net and become lost to follow-up. If a person with mental illness has not been diverted to the NHS at a police station or court, then admission to prison should present an opportunity to assess the needs of patients often difficult to engage with psychiatric services and to ensure that they are met. This unique opportunity is rarely used effectively. Psychiatrists can help to improve this sorry situation.
| Multiple choice questions |
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| References |
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