§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of prison suicides in each of the years 1987 to date in which the coroner identified lack of medical care as a material factor; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThere have been five cases of self-inflicted death in prison service establishments since 1987 in which the inquest verdict on the cause of death made reference to a lack of care. Of these, one death was in 1987, three were in 1990 and one in 1991.
The verdicts concerned did not distinguish between medical care and other means of providing care for prisoners. The duty of care is shared by all prison staff, not only medical or nursing staff. The Government are concerned to ensure that proper standards of care are achieved in prisons. We are giving very serious consideration to the recommendations made about this in the report on suicide and self-injury by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons.