Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health provision for people in prisons.

The Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England was published on 6 November 2025 and we are carefully considering its findings and recommendations.

Healthcare services in the prison estate are commissioned by NHS England. All prison healthcare providers are commissioned and contracted to use National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Every prison in England has onsite healthcare teams providing primary care, mental health, dentistry, and substance misuse services. As part of the formal prisoner induction process, all prisoners undergo health screening that incorporates a mental health assessment. The secondary care mental health assessment is carried out by a mental health professional. Routine assessments are carried out within five working days. Where an individual is in a state of mental health crisis, presents with rapidly escalating needs, or is at risk of immediate harm to themselves or others, an urgent assessment should be undertaken within 48 hours.

NHS England commissions health needs assessments across the prison estate to determine the needs of the prison population and is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026 to ensure it continues to meet those needs while assessing opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.