RCPsych responds to report on the commissioning of healthcare services in prisons
Embargoed until 12 February 2009
Dr Janet Parrott, chair of the College’s
Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry, said:
“The College remains concerned about the
variable quality of commissioning for healthcare in prisons. This
is particularly evident in the commissioning of mental health
services in prisons, and we support the recommendations of
this new joint report from the Healthcare Commission and Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons.
“However there is a notable absence in the
report of the commissioners’ responsibility to ensure that the
health services commissioned for prisoners are of an equivalent
standard to those provided in the community, and that sufficient
resources are made available for this.”
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Commissioning healthcare in prisons: The results of joint work between the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons in 2007/2008
Note to editors:
The report, Commissioning healthcare in prisons: The results of joint work between the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons in 2007/2008, was published on 12 February 2009. www.healthcarecommission.org.uk