New report on prisoners’ use of hospital care
The Nuffield Trust have used over 110,000 patient hospital records for people at 112 prisons in 2017/18, and provides detail as to how prisoners’ health needs are being met in hospital.
The research shows:
- Four in ten hospital appointments made for people in prison are cancelled or missed;
- People in prison receive around a quarter less hospital care than expected compared to the general population;
- over one in ten pregnant prisoners gave birth either in prison or on their way to hospital in 2017/18.
The Nuffield Trust says these findings raise concerns about how people in prison are able to access hospital care, highlighting the legacy impact of a drop in frontline prison staff alongside the burgeoning prison population. This, they say, is likely to have reduced the numbers of prison escorts to transport and guard people whilst at hospital, meaning cancelled appointments and restricted access to hospital care for all but the most urgent of cases.
To access the full report, please click here: Locked Out? Prisoners’ use of Hospital Care
