Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support his Department provides to people employed in the justice and custodial sector who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

At the Ministry of Justice, all staff in all its executive agencies and arm’s length bodies, which includes HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have access to our Occupational Health provision and our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) services.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be identified through an Occupational Health referral. In addition, within HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Mental Health Advisers, specialist advisers, provided by our OH supplier can identify treatment for PTSD, following a work related traumatic incident. Where PTSD is diagnosed MoJ employees will be referred for bespoke support provided by our EAP in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). These treatments have been identified as best practice in NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) guidelines.

In HMPPS we plan to implement TRiM (Trauma Management) training for prison based staff. This will take place in ten prisons with imminent roll out across the estate. TRiM is a mental health assessment approach used by the military to detect PTSD and will provide an additional method of recognising the condition which will allow employees to be fast tracked to the appropriate therapy.