The prison service is still failing inmates’ healthcare needs

In September 2019 a newborn baby died after an inmate at HMP Bronzefield, Britain’s largest female prison, gave birth alone in her cell at night.1 An inspection by the Independent Monitoring Board, the prison welfare watchdog, had identified “severe shortages” of nurses at the privately run prison, as well as problems in accessing mental health support for inmates.2 Shortly afterwards the Ministry of Justice revealed the number of pregnant prisoners in the system, which in November 2019 was 47.3

This week the Nuffield Trust published an analysis of 2017-18 hospital data showing that prisoners—including pregnant women—faced severe problems in accessing secondary care.4 The research linked data on prisoners’ residences to their use of NHS hospital services—inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care, the reasons for use, and how access compared with the general population. Prisoners accounted for around 12 000 admissions, 18 000 emergency attendances, and 83 000 outpatient appointments.4