§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future structure, establishment and role of the prison medical service.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydThe 1990 efficiency scrutiny of the prison medical service, now known as the health care service for prisoners, set forth a substantial agenda of proposed reform in the way health services in prisons are organised and delivered. The scrutiny found that the HCSP should be drawn to the centre of prison service management as a whole, but also that a closer alignment with the national health service would be beneficial. This means a wider role for the HCSP and a greater emphasis on health promotion and illness prevention.
We have accepted either fully or in principle virtually all of the 83 scrutiny recommendations, and the process of implementation is underway. The biggest and immediate task arising from the scrutiny is to test out the recommendation that the HCSP should become a purchaser of services through contracts with the NHS (or other providers). As indicated in the consultation paper "Contracting for Prison Health Services", issued last August, the evidence for or against this model can only be produced by pilot projects in selected establishments. The first of these will be ready to start later this year.
The challenge is to provide for prisoners the same standards of health care as is provided by the NHS.