Prisoners with serious mental health problems are forced to spend months in isolation, the report found
A prisoner who repeatedly harmed himself has spent more than 800 days in isolation, according to a damning report showing prisons are using isolation to meet serious mental health needs.
The prisoner, who was held under the Public Protection Order (IPP) order, is one of dozens with serious mental health problems who have been held in isolation for months, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has concluded.
Observers at a maximum security prison found that the inmate, identified in the report as ‘Mr H’, had been diagnosed with a personality disorder and had repeatedly self-harmed.
He was temporarily transferred to a specialized psychological unit, but his behavior deteriorated and he was returned to a segregation unit.
Prisoners with serious mental health needs who require care in a secure hospital or psychiatric intensive care unit should be transferred within 28 days, as set out in NHS England guidance.
Reforms to the Mental Health Act would make the 28-day transfer target a legal requirement. However, the bill was not included in the King’s speech in November, meaning it will not be adopted in this parliament.
The IMB report, released on Thursday, said the prison service too often uses segregation in care and separation units (CSUs) as a way to manage prisoners with serious mental health problems.
It revealed numerous examples of mentally unwell prisoners being held in isolation. Among them is a man with autism, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and severe ADHD symptoms, who spent almost nine months in the segregation unit of a category C prison, during which time his mental health deteriorated dramatically.
Another prisoner with complex mental health needs was kept segregated for 300 days pending assessment for transfer to a secure mental health hospital.
By the time he was assessed and transferred, he had spent more than 550 days in the segregation unit – almost twenty times the intended transfer time.
Elisabeth Davies, chair of the IMB, said: “Too often the prison service uses CSUs as the default setting for managing and caring for men with serious or challenging mental health needs.
“These units hold places for those who experience lengthy delays before being transferred to a more suitable safe environment. They are stuck in CSUs because they simply have nowhere else to go.”
The report was compiled after surveys of supervisory agencies in 30 prisons, which were completed in the spring.
The research found that almost all prisons had held men with mental health needs in CSUs.
There was a lack of capacity in prison health care units and there were delays in referrals, assessments and transfers, the report said. Some prisoners struggled to cope in the residential wings.
Campbell Robb, the charity’s CEO Nacrowhich helps people in prison and on release, said the policy of holding people with mental health needs in isolation was “completely wrong”, adding: “These are vulnerable people in a moment of crisis – they deserve support , treatment and stability, not having to pay the price for our overburdened prison and healthcare services.”
A government spokesperson said: “Segregation is an absolute last resort for those considered a danger to themselves or others.
“Prisoners are entitled to the same care as they would receive in the community. That is why we ensure that the most vulnerable individuals have access to mental health care tailored to their needs.”