Prisons: Health Services

(asked on 7th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of first aid and medical cover provision across the prison estate.


Answered by
James Cartlidge Portrait
James Cartlidge
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 15th February 2022

First aid cover for all staff in the Prison Estate is provided by trained first aiders, and the number of those required in each establishment is achieved via a First Aid Risk Assessment of need. Staff have a duty of care for prisoners. Prisoners also receive first aid/medical cover through on-site healthcare teams or local hospitals when required.

Responsibility for health services rests in statute with the National Health Service, NHS England and NHS Improvement for Prisons in England and the Welsh Government for Prisons in Wales, who are directly accountable for provision equitable to that provided in the community, and subject to the same independent inspectorate and parliamentary scrutiny as other NHS services including through joint inspection with HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

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