Self Injury - Prison self injury rate accelerates at four times the rise in population

Prison self injury rate accelerates at four times the rise in population, 11th April 2008, Howard League for Penal Reform

Rates of self injury in prison have rocketed by almost 40% in the last five years, accelerating well beyond what would be expected from the ever rising prison population in England and Wales.
Figures show that [...]

Meeting Needs? The offenders learning and skills service

   Meeting Needs? The offenders learning and skills service, National Audit Office, March 2008
“Ensuring offenders have the underpinning skills for life (literacy, language, numeracy and basic IT skills), and have developed work skills, to enable them to meet the real needs of employers in the area where they live or will settle after their sentence [...]

A Survey of Buprenorphine Misuse in Prisons

   A Survey of Buprenorphine Misuse in Prisons, Ministry of Justice, Prison Drugs Strategy Team, Interventions and Substance Misuse Unit, July 2007
Abstract:  Under MDT, prisoners are tested routinely for a panel of seven illegal drugs: amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, methadone and opiates. This panel of drugs comprises those that are most likely to be misused in [...]

Mental Health in Prisons

   Mental Health in Prisons, Some Insights from Death in Custody Investigations. Stephen Shaw is the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
Abstract:  As a young man, inspired by the anti-psychiatry movement and the so-called counter-culture as a whole, I was a strong supporter of closing mental hospitals in favour of what came to be known as ‘care [...]

Forensic Mental Health Services - Facts and Figures on Current Provision

   Forensic Mental Health Services - Facts and Figures on Current Provision, September 2007, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
Abstract: Forensic mental health services provide care for people who have come into contact with the criminal justice system and have been transferred to secure NHS services.
This factfile brings together figures from many sources about forensic services [...]

Preventing Suicide in Prisons, Part I: Recommendations from the International Association for Suicide Prevention Task Force on Suicide in Prisons.

     Preventing Suicide in Prisons, Part I: Recommendations from the International Association for Suicide Prevention Task Force on Suicide in Prisons.  Crisis: Journal of Crisis Intervention & Suicide. 28(3):113-121, 2007.
Abstract: In 2000 the Department of Mental Health of the World Health Organization (WHO)published a guide named Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Prison Officers as part [...]

Schema Focused Therapy in Forensic Settings - Also know as “Schema Focused Cognitive Therapy,”

Schema Focused Therapy in Forensic Settings: Theoretical Model and Recommendations for Best Clinical Practice,  International Journal of Forensic Mental Health 2007, Vol. 6, No. 2, pages 169-183

Abstract: Until recently few empirically supported treatments for patients with personality disorders were available. Schema Focused Therapy (SFT) has recently shown efficacy in (non-forensic) outpatients with Borderline Personality Disorder, [...]

The Prediction of Imminent Aggression and Self-Harm

The Prediction of Imminent Aggression and Self-Harm in Personality Disordered Patients of a High Security Hospital Using the HCR-20 Clinical Scale and the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression  International Journal of Forensic Mental Health 2007, Vol. 6, No. 2, pages 137-143
Abstract

Drawing on recent advances in the violence risk assessment literature, this study tested the [...]

Needs Among Mentally Disorded Offenders in Medium Secure in the UK

     Usefulness of the CANFOR-S for measuring needs among mentally disordered offenders resident in medium or low secure hospital services in the UK: a pilot evaluation Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 18: 39–48 (200
ABSTRACT
Background The short form of the forensic version of the Camberwell Assessment of Needs (CANFOR-S) (Thomas et al., 2003) is of [...]

Independent review of the diversion of individuals with mental health problems from the criminal justice system and prison

Independent review of the diversion of individuals with mental health problems from the criminal justice system and prison, 31st January 2008, Department of Health
An independent review of the diversion of offenders with mental health problems or learning disabilities away from prison, led by the Rt Hon Lord Keith Bradley, is due to report this Summer. [...]

The Corston Report Calls for Better Mental Health Care for Women in Prison

       Women need more alternatives to prison, says Sainsbury Centre,  29th January 2008         

There are currently over 4,400 women in 17 prisons in England.  Four out of five women prisoners have mental health problems, most commonly depression and anxiety.  Almost half have been subject to abuse, while one in three has a child under five.

The Corston [...]

Forensic Friday

      Articles of interest - by Forensic Mental Health Nurses, about Forensic Mental Health
3 of the articles below are available full-text, just click on the title to gain access.
If you would like any of the articles below emailing, please contact susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk
Compiled from the IAFMHS Nursing Newsletter March 2007

Bowring-Lossock, E. (2006). The forensic mental health nurse [...]

Nurses and Training in Forensic Settings

    An Evaluation of Perceived Education and Training Needs of Staff Nurses and Care Officers, Michael Brennan. Journal of Forensic Nursing. Pitman: Winter 2006. Vol. 2, Iss. 4; p. 175 (9 pages)
 ’The findings from this study suggest participation in training programmes increases self-confidence and morale.’
Abstract: This study was carried out to ascertain the specific education [...]

Straight of the shelves from Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

   The Community Order and the Mental Health Treatment Requirement , January 2008
Courts failing to use option of mental health treatment for offenders outside prison, says new report
It is estimated that half of people on community orders have at least one mental health problem, yet fewer than one per cent of community orders issued in 2006 [...]

Therapy Needed

   Aggressive behaviour in the high-secure forensic setting: the perceptions of patients, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing,2006,13, 19–25
Abstract:
Twenty-seven patients undergoing treatment in a high-secure forensic facility participated in focus group interviews to elicit their perceptions of (1) the factors leading to aggressive behaviour; and (2) strategies to reduce the risk of such [...]

Current Awareness for Forensics

Current Awareness Bulletin: Forensic Mental Health Services Issue 1 August 2007
Current Awareness Bulletin: Forensic Mental Health Services Issue 2 November 2007
NHS Scotland: Forensic Mental Health Services Managed Care Network (Forensic Network) website.
The bulletins cover the following topic areas listed below.  Please be aware some of the links will not always link directley to full-text.  For full-text please note down the [...]

Best Practice Guidance: Specification for adult medium-secure services

     Best Practice Guidance: Specification for adult medium-secure services, July 2007, DoH
This is a best practice document with quality principles, specifications and high-level indicators for all medium-secure services. It also clarifies the performance framework underpinning the quality principles.
This specification relates to medium-secure services as defined in the contract for the
provision of mental health, learning disabilities [...]

Prisoners on the Move

  Procedure for the transfer of prisoners to and from hospital under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act (1983) 7th December 2007, Department of Health
The revised and updated ‘Procedure for the Transfer of Prisoners to and from Hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983′ aims to help colleagues [...]

Women in Prison: a literature review

Women in Prison: A literature review 2005
 Her Majestys Inspectorate of Prisons
Page 8 Mental Health, Page 10 Suicide & Self Harm Page 12 Substance Misuse
Clip from the Report: - In the year between September 2004 and August 2005, women accounted for 56% of self-harm incidents while comprising only about 5% of the prison population. A study conducted [...]

The Mental Health of Prisoners

The mental health of prisoners. A thematic review of the care and support of prisoners with mental health needs, October 2007
Publisher:  HM Inspectorate of Prisons
‘There is particularly urgent need for increased provision for the care of those with mental
health problems, who make up a larger proportion of the prison population than they would of
any other [...]

Mental Health Care in Prisons: Briefing

Mental Health Care in Prisons: Briefing June 2007
Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
The quality of mental health care available in our prisons is frequently poor.
This briefing paper provides an overview of the mental health care available in prisons. It examines how mental health problems are identified in prison, how prison inreach teams work, transfers to NHS [...]

Primary, Prisons and Mental Health

Getting the Basics Right - Developing a primary care mental health service in prisons, November 2007
Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
Most primary care in prisons is able only to address people’s physical health problems. As a result, prisoners with common mental health conditions frequently go untreated.
Government policy since 2001 has been for prisoners to receive health [...]