The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has published a new bulletin examining the high rates of self-inflicted deaths in reception prisons.
People entering reception prisons are mostly on remand or are unsentenced. For some, it may be their first time entering a prison. This group of prisoners face a considerable degree of uncertainty about their future – and are therefore deemed more vulnerable.
In 11% of cases assessed by the Ombudsman, self-inflicted deaths occurred within the first 48 hours of entering a reception prison and 30% occurred within the next three weeks, meaning that 41% occurred within the very first month.
Collaboration between healthcare and prison staff was too-often insufficient in identifying and managing risk in prisoners. A lack of meaningful communication and engagement with this group further contributed to their risk of suicide and self-harm. In 7% of cases, the Ombudsman found issues with prisoners’ phone accounts, effectively blocking their access to support during their earliest days in custody.
Though early days in reception prisons presented the highest period of risk, the Ombudsman also found that 36% took their life beyond spending three months in a reception prison and 41% of deaths assessed occurred near a court hearing.
The report encourages greater awareness of the vulnerabilities of this particular cohort of prisoners – with better staff training on how to identify and manage their risks.
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