Task poster

The Prison Health Partnership Improving the Health & Wellbeing of the Prison Population in

England through Multi-Agency Cohesiveness & Shared Responsibility (1)

 Partnership between NHS England, Public Health England and HM Prison & Probation Service established in

2012, joined by Ministry of Justice & Department of Health & Social Care in 2018 (1).  The collaboration coincided with the passing of the Health and Social Care Act (2012) which increased focus on

partnership working and integrated care (2) despite claims that the UK Government’s reliance on partnerships are ineffective at reducing health inequalities (3).

 The partnership was developed due to high death rates amongst prisoners and recently released offenders,

many of which were preventable & often the result of suicide, substance use, or poor prison conditions which

lead to those at risk of premature death remaining unidentified by both prison staff and health professionals (4).

Public Health England: Surveillance & Quality Assurance

HM Prison & Probation Service: Prison Service Provision

NHS England: Commissioning of Prison Health Services

Ministry of Justice: Justice & Prison Reform Policy

Department of Health & Social Care: Health Policy

Conclusion: Since the Prison Health Partnership was established, prison mortality rates have decreased. This suggests that the partnership has worked effectively towards achieving its aims, however mortality rates are still considered to be at an unacceptable level (4). Therefore, there is room for improvement, which could include expansion to include relevant private & voluntary sector agencies fundamental to the provision of various prison services to eliminate missed opportunities for improvement and enhance quality of care.

1) To reduce health inequalities and improve the health &

wellbeing of prisoners

2) To identify and address health- related factors which contribute to

offending and re-offending

3) To improve access to health care services for prisoners both during

and after incarceration

Clear & Robust Partnership Arrangements: linked governance structures enable the partnership to work

towards 10 agreed priorities set out in the National Prison

Healthcare Board’s Partnership Agreement 2018/2021 (1)

Clarity & Realism of Purpose: a shared vision of reducing health inequalities with realistic

expectations & acknowledgment of the complexity

of factors affecting the health of prisoners and the

difficulties of overcoming identified issues

Developing & Maintaining Trust: Recognition of organisational independence with individual

resources, strategies and specific roles (above,

right) within the partnership valued and respected.

Recognizing the Need for Partnership: the complexity of health needs amongst prisoners is acknowledged as a

rationale for the partnership. However, government policy at

the time influenced the alliance of various government

agencies, suggesting partnership involvement is involuntary

Monitoring, Measuring & Learning: Internal & independent monitoring boards continually

evaluating the effectiveness of service delivery to

improve staff training and enhance quality of care (4)

Commitment & Ownership: Expansion of the partnership in 2018 to further strengthen the collaboration and increase

efficiency, however a lack of involvement from private and

voluntary sector agencies limits possibilities for improvement

Enabling Factors:





Disabling Factors:

X

X

All 5 partners are government agencies working towards similar

political agendas and influenced by the same political ideologies

Issues regarding prison health is widely publicised leading to

the partnership being scrutinised and under increased pressure (6 )

Effectiveness of The Prison Health Partnership: Evaluated using the Partnership Assessment Tool (5)

Underfunding and overcrowding in prisons limits what the can be

achieved, reducing the impact on prisoner health outcomes

(1)

A whole system approach- from sentencing to release- provides

opportunity for improvement across the whole prison population

References (1) HM Government. (2018) National Partnership Agreement for Prison Healthcare in England 2018-2021. (Online). Available at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767832/6.4289_MoJ_National_hea lth_partnership_A4-L_v10_web.pdf. (Accessed: 20 February 2019).

(2) HM Government. (2012) Health and Social Care Act 2012- Part 5: Chapter 2. (Online). Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/7/part/5/chapter/2/crossheading/health-and-wellbeing-boards-functions/enacted. (Accessed: 20 February 2019).

(3) Perkins, N., Smith, K., Hunter, D.J., Bambra, C., and Joyce, K. (2010) ‘What Counts is What Works? New Labour and Partnerships in Public Health’, Policy and Politics, 38 (1), pp. 101-117.

(4) House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. (2019) Prison Health: Twelfth Report of Session 2017–19. (Online). Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhealth/963/963.pdf. (Accessed: 24 February 2019).

(5) Hardy, B., Hudson, B., and Waddington, E. (2003) Assessing Strategic Partnership: The Partnership Assessment Tool. Leeds: Nuffield Institute for Health.

(6) HM Government. (2019) Government Response to the Health and Social Care Committee's Inquiry into Prison Health. (Online). Available at: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Health/Correspondence/2017-19/Government-Response-to-twelfth- report-into-prison-health-cp4.pdf. (Accessed: 21 February 2019).