Publications and resources

Our standards for Prison Mental Health Services are a framework to assess the quality of prison mental health services through self and peer review. The specialist standards also use the CCQI standards for community-based mental health services (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2019).

The first edition was published in June 2015 following an extensive process of consultation with various stakeholders. The second and third edition were created to reflect the feedback we'd received from those who took part in the review cycles. It looked at new developments within the field of prison mental health and also included 2016 NICE guidance on the physical health of people in prison.

The fourth edition was published in September 2018. These incorporated the 24-hour mental healthcare standards, which were previously separated. The 24 hour standards provide a framework for improving quality in prison mental health services with inpatient provisions or enhanced care facilities. They can be used by member services of the Quality Network as an optional addition to the existing set of standards for prison mental health services that form the basis of self and peer-reviews.

New standards

We are pleased to have published the fifth edition of the QNPMHS standards. These also incorporate the reviewed 24-hour mental healthcare standards. These standards have been informed by peer review visits, individual feedback, a day long consultation workshop in March 2021, and electronic consultation on the final version. This was the first large-scale review of the standards since their creation in 2015 where we considered specialisms within prison mental health.

All criteria are rated as Type 1, 2 or 3

  1. Essential standards. Failure to meet these would result in a significant threat to patient safety, rights or dignity and/or would breach the law. These standards also include the fundamentals of care, including the provision of evidence-based care and treatment
  2. Expected standards that all services should meet
  3. Desirable standards that high-performing services should meet.

Our annual reports summarise findings from the review visits that are conducted over each year.

They outline the current climate within prison mental health nationally, identifying best practice as well as the key areas of challenge experienced by participating services.

Previous editions can be found on Knowledge Hub.

If you have an article you would like to us to feature – or have anything to advertise – please email prisonnetwork@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Creative writing booklet

The first time ever the Quality Networks for Forensic and Prison Mental Health Services launched a creative writing competition for patients. We received some fantastic entries and have showcased all the entries in this special edition creative writing booklet:

We have moved our email discussion groups onto a new, free to join, online forum called knowledge hub. All our members are invited to join the QNPMHS discussion forum on knowledge hub, which will allow you to:

  • Share best practice and quality improvement initiatives
  • Seek advice and connect with other members
  • Discuss current issues and policies
  • Share policies, procedures and guidelines
  • Advertise and view upcoming events and conferences

To join knowledge hub, please email ‘join knowledge hub’ to: prisonnetwork@rcpsych.ac.uk

Planning effective mental healthcare in prisons using the Care Programme Approach and the Community Mental Health Framework

This work stemmed from our April 2019 event with Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV). Within prison settings, CPA has been poorly implemented and the principles underpinning the approach have been lost. QNPMHS and TEWV have been working collaboratively since the beginning of last year to create a thorough and effective guidance document to help support clinicians and services with the CPA process.

Purpose of the document

The purpose of the document is to standardise the CPA and successor processes and to ensure consistency within and between prisons and through transfers from and to community services. The guidance will also be helpful for immigration removal centres.

Training resources

To improve knowledge and awareness of CPA/CMHF within your prison, you can use the resources that have been developed by the Network in collaboration with QNPMHS member services. The resources include:

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