Overcrowding 'hits inmate health'

Prison health care has often been criticised

Overcrowding in jails in England and Wales is creating a "disastrous situation" for the health of inmates, a prison doctor says.

Dr Ashok Rayani, who works at Swansea prison, said jail health services were not sufficiently staffed or funded to cope with rising numbers of inmates.

He said there were "unacceptable delays" in assessments and treatments.

The government said prison healthcare spending in England had risen by over £40m a year to £200m since 2002.

Prison numbers peaked at more than 80,000 at the end of May, records show.

In the short term, this bleak picture places vulnerable prisoners at risk from serious complications Dr Ashok Rayani

Dr Rayani said delays in treating inmates were partly caused by a shortage of prison officers to escort them to hospital.

"Specialist services designed to deal with mental health and drug addiction problems are badly stretched to the point of being ineffective - a disastrous situation considering how endemic these conditions are within the prison population.

"In the short term, this bleak picture places vulnerable prisoners at risk from serious complications because their conditions are not being assessed immediately and treated adequately."

Different treatment

Dr Clare Jenkins, the chairman of the British Medical Association's civil and public services committee, said the situation was sapping the morale of prison medical staff.

"Prison healthcare has been neglected for many years by successive governments.

"We believe that the prison system is reaching an unprecedented crisis point that requires urgent strategic and financial action from the government."

She urged prison doctors to write to their prison governors and primary care trusts to highlight the "serious risk" to their patients' health.

Prison offers a unique opportunity to identify and tackle wider health needs in a vulnerable and socially excluded population Department of Health spokesman

An article in the British Medical Journal offered further criticism of mental health services in prison.

Two prison doctors from Pentonville Prison in London said that people with mental health problems in prison tended to wait far longer for an inpatient bed than their counterparts in the community - a contravention of the Human Rights Act.

They have called for a new Mental Health Bill to include a time limit for transfer to hospital from prison - and a ban on sending people who need mental health treatment to prison in the first place.

The current Mental Health Act does not apply to the prison population.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was "committed" to improving the health of inmates.

"We know that in general prisoners have poorer health than the population at large, and many have unhealthy lifestyles.

"Prison offers a unique opportunity to identify and tackle wider health needs in a vulnerable and socially excluded population."