The Lord Bishopof Lincoln asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many incidents of self harm were recorded in each prison establishment in England and Wales in the year 1999–2000. [HL3]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton)I shall write to the right reverend Prelate with this information.
§ The Lord Bishop of Lincolnasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cases of tuberculosis existed in prisons in England and Wales on the last date for which figures are available, broken down by establishment. [HL4]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThis information is not available in the form requested. The number of ww cases of tuberculosis reported by Prison Service establishments in 1998–99, the latest year for which complete figures are readily available, was 50. I shall write to the right reverend Prelate with more up to date information.
7WA
§ The Lord Bishop of Lincolnasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners were identified as psychiatric in-patients in prison health care units on the last date for which figures are available; and what are their future plans for holding and caring for these prisoners within prison establishments. [HL5]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThis information is not available in the form requested. Returns from Prison Service establishments indicate that, in 1998–99, the last year for which complete figures are readily available, there were 11,891 in-patient admissions to prison health care centres for reasons principally associated with mental ill health.
The Government are committed to improving standards of care and treatment for prisoners with mental health problems. All prisons and the local health authorities in which they are situated have been asked, in line with the programme of reform set out in The Future Organisation of Prison Healthcare (March 1999), by March 2001 at the latest, to assess jointly prisoners' health needs and identify appropriate services to meet them and effective means of delivery.
These should include in-reach into prisons from community health teams as part of the broader development of mental health services as set out in the National Service Framework for Mental Health. Implementation of improvements through individual prison health plans is scheduled to begin from April 2001, although reforms are well under way in a number of prisons already.
The NHS Plan includes commitments that, by 2004, the 5,000 prisoners with a serious mental illness who are at any one time in prison should be receiving more comprehensive mental health services; all prisoners with severe mental illness will be in receipt of treatment; no prisoner with serious mental illness will leave prison without a care plan and a care co-ordinator; and within the new NHS/Prison Service partnership some 300 additional staff will be employed.
§ The Lord Bishop of Lincolnasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners saw a dentist while in prison in 1997, 1998 and 1999: what is the average waiting time to see a dentist: and how many dentists the Prison Service employs. [HL6]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonComplete information is not available in the form requested. The information in the table has been collated from a number of databases held centrally, based on returns from Prison Service establishments.
8WANumber of occasions inmates referred to dentist by prison medical officer.
1996–97: 93,755
1997–98: 104,718
1998–99: 108,446
Information is not collected centrally about average waiting times to see a dentist.
In most cases dental services to prisoners are provided by visiting general dental practitioners working under NHS general dental services arrangements. Some individual prisons contract for dental services with another provider, usually the Community Dental Service, but sometimes with an individual dentist.
§ The Lord Bishop of Lincolnasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of doctors employed by the Prison Service have general practitioner training. [HL7]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThis information is not available in the form requested.
Since 29 March 1999, any doctors newly appointed to undertake any kind of primary care in prisons have been required to hold a certificate from the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice (JCPTGP) or its equivalent.
A working group on prison doctors has been established which is expected to report to Ministers in summer 2001. This group will consider amongst other issues the qualifications and training needs of all doctors working in prisons.
§ The Lord Bishop of Lincolnasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the range of alternative therapies that are available to prisoners to supplement conventional medical treatments, at the latest possible date, broken down by establishment. [HL8]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonPrison Service establishments were instructed in November 1999 that only a limited range of alternative or complementary therapies (acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic, yoga and meditation) may be made available to individual prisoners, on the recommendation of the prison doctor. Other such therapies may be made available only in circumstances where a good case can be shown and with the prior approval of the joint Prison Health Policy Unit. Information is not routinely collected centrally about the provision of alternative or complementary therapies at individual establishments under these arrangements.