Jail faces cash crisis over nurse fees

The prison's nursing fees are more than £1,000 a day

A prison's finances are being stretched to the limit because it is paying out thousands of pounds to staff the hospital wing with freelance nurses.

A shortage of staff nurses at Bristol Prison means the governor is being forced to buy in agency staff, he said.

Agencies can demand up to £100 an hour for each nurse and governor Nick Wall said he is being forced to hire up to five nurses a day because of inmates' mental health problems.

Mr Wall said if no solution is found, other parts of the prison's operation would have to be cut to fill a hole in the budget.

If this continues I will have to look at a reduction elsewhere in the regime

Nick Wall, prison governor

Governor Nick Wall said: "It is pretty drastic, taking out money where I would like to spend it elsewhere.

"I have to balance the books and ensure it doesn't have a drastic effect on the prison regime or on staff.

"If this continues I will have to look at a reduction elsewhere in the regime."

Charles Walker, from the Federation of Nursing Agencies, said a £100 an hour fee applied during a bank holiday in April, when a nurse was required to work at the prison at short notice.

"The governor is a victim of general nursing shortages," he said.

"The reason why hospitals have to use temporary agencies is because they can't fill permanent positions - particularly in the case of prisons.

"It is a special nurse that wants to make a career working in a prison."