Positive report for jail despite health concern
A PRISON for high-risk sex offenders near Rugby has received a positive annual inspection, although healthcare remains a “key concern”.
HMP Rye Hill, a category B jail on the A45 between Dunchurch and Willoughby, has been told it must make changes to the healthcare offered to its 600-plus prisoners, as well as improving how it prepares inmates for release after serving their sentence.
However, inspectors praised safety inside the prison, employment of inmates and the reduction of discrimination reports.
The annual report by the Independent Monitoring Boards covers the period from April 2016 to March 2017.
The board stated that they consider prisoners were treated fairly at the prison run by private security firm G4S.
The report said: “Staff and senior management have made determined efforts to ensure that the prison is a safe place for both staff and prisoners, especially during times of staff shortages when a rolling programme of unit lock downs have to be scheduled.”
Other positives highlighted were discrimination reports having reduced and all found to be unproven, while between 89.7 and 91 per cent of prisoners are “either employed or purposefully occupied”, with the target of 29 hours a week of employment being met most of the year.
Healthcare in the prison, which opened back in 2001, was pinpointed as a “key concern”, with the report stating: “Unless the prisoner health profile changes, the current service will need both further investment and improvement to ensure it can give prisoners the same level of care they would receive in the community especially those with serious long-term conditions and terminal diagnoses.”
Inspectors also noted that the provision of disability and assisted living aids can take an “unacceptably long period, in some cases up to six months”. The board also said it has “reservations about how well prisoners are prepared for release” and described the library provision as “barely adequate for a prison of this size both in terms of physical size and budget for books/DVDs”. Sheila Davie, chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HM Prison Rye Hill, said: “Treatment of prisoners at Rye Hill is in the main, fair and just, although delivery of adequate healthcare remains a concern. “We are pleased that the prison has remained more settled during this year. “However, the IMB will continue to monitor progress towards a safe and humane environment for all prisoners with a particular focus on equality and inclusion and the provision of healthcare.”
Treatment of prisoners at Rye Hill is in the main, fair and just, although delivery of adequate healthcare remains a concern. Sheila Davie