Prisons 'misused'
Saturday, 29 Dec 2007 19:30
Doctors have attacked prison management
The government has been accused of wrongly using the prison system to provide healthcare provision.
Prison Reform Trust director Juliet Lyon claimed mentally ill convicts and drug addicts were being wrongly housed in prison rather than in the NHS.
The government transferred responsibility for commissioning health services to the NHS in 2003 and is currently reviewing ways to house offenders with severe mental health problems in alternative accommodation.
Ms Lyon's comments come after the British Medical Association (BMA) said a year of "political failure" had led to prisons being turned into "just a holding pen for criminals".
Speaking on BBC1's Breakfast programme, Ms Lyon said many vulnerable prisoners were being released back into the community devoid of adequate treatment.
"Prison isn't a hospital, it is a punishment of last resort," she said.
"You have got to have decent healthcare and what doctors are saying to us is that they don't have the resources they need and they are worried about people on release."
Ms Lyon said it was "curious" how government was prepared to build "yet more" prisons while the drivers of crime, drugs, drink and mental health needs "don't seem to be addressed at all".
The BMA has criticised Lord Carter's long-term review of prisons for neglecting the problems of prison doctors, warning funding issues are exacerbated by many prisons being "swamped" with illegal narcotics.
"The combined result of these problems is that the prison system is releasing large numbers of individuals who are not fit to return to the community," BMA committee member Dr Redmond Walsh commented.
Responding to the report, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government was seeking to improve the situation in Britain's prisons.
"We are working to improve the areas identified by the doctors, for example reception screening is currently being reviewed, and we are working to produce guidance which will improve the operation of court diversion schemes for mentally ill offenders," the spokesperson commented.