§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
I am making this Statement with my honourable Friend the Minister for Correctional Services and Reducing Reoffending, Mr Paul Goggins.
32WSThe prison population demonstrates high levels of morbidity, particularly in areas such as mental health and substance misuse. Historically, primary healthcare services to prisoners have been secured and delivered by the Prison Service independently of the NHS.
A formal partnership between the Prison Service and the NHS was launched in 2000 to modernise health services for prisoners. In 2002, the Government announced their intention to move this partnership on to a new phase, with the Department of Heath assuming overall financial responsibility for these services from April 2003 and the transfer of full commissioning responsibility for prison health services to NHS PCTs by April 2006. A development network of prisons and PCTs was established to provide a testbed for this transfer at operational level.
We are today announcing the NHS primary care trusts that will assume responsibility for commissioning primary healthcare services in their local prisons from April 2004. This is the initial phase of transfer of responsibility and involves 22 PCTs which have prisons within their boundaries. Of these 22, four have delegated commissioning responsibility to neighbouring PCTs, giving 18 PCTs the lead for local prison health partnerships.
Covering 34 prisons across England, the 18 lead primary care trusts have demonstrated a clear understanding of the health needs of their local prison populations and have, in partnership with the prisons themselves, developed robust plans to improve health services for those populations. Funding for primary health services that was previously allocated through the Prison Service will be transferred to the relevant primary care trusts from April 2004. Funding for NHS secondary care services provided to prisoners is already within the financial baselines of PCTs. Investment in health services for prisoners is set to increase by over £40 million a year over the three-year period to March 2006. Responsibility for commissioning health services in all publicly run prisons in England will transfer to local primary care trusts by 1 Apri 1 2006.
The 18 partnerships where commissioning responsibility will transfer from 1 April are:
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PCT Prisons Castlepoint & Rochford Bullwood Hall Doncaster East Lindholme Moorland Durham & Chester-le-Street Frank land Durham Low Newton Exeter Channings Wood1 Dartmoor2 Exeter Heart of Birmingham Birmingham Hounslow Feltham Huntingdon Littlehey Islington Holloway Pentonville Lambeth Brixton Leeds West Leeds North Liverpool Liverpool 34WS
PCT Prisons Northumberland Acklington Castington Reading Reading Richmond & Twickenham Latchmere House South West Dorset Dorchester Guys Marsh3 Portland Shepton Mallet4 The Verne Weare Suffolk Coast Hollesley Bay Warren Hill
PCT Prisons Swale Elmley Standford Hill Swaleside West Lincolnshire Lincoln Morton Hall 1 Managed by Exeter on behalf of Teignbridge PCT 2 Managed by Exeter on behalf of South Hams and West Devon PCT 3 Managed by SW Dorset on behalf of North Dorset PCT 4 Managed by SW Dorset on behalf of Mendip PCT