Covid jail’s new ‘distance alarm’
WARNING SYSTEM BROUGHT IN FOLLOWING OUTBREAK THAT KILLED PRISONER
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE prison has invested in an alarm system which informs prison wardens if staff and inmates are fewer than two metres apart.
HMP Lowdham Grange is an 885-capacity male prison and was rocked by a major Covid outbreak in September last year.
The virus affected 177 prisoners at its peak, which saw three inmates hospitalised, and one death. The virus also saw 160 staff off sick.
Prison director Mark Hanson created cohorts in each of its 14 wings to contain the spread.
The first cohort was for those who tested negative; the second was those who tested positive and the third was for prisoners displaying symptoms but not testing positive.
The fourth group was those selfisolating because they had been in contact with someone who had the virus. The final group was for new prisoners.
Cohorts were unlocked from their cells at different times, including for showers, exercise and to eat meals.
But now the prison has gone one step further to ensure social distancing is maintained at the facility, which includes a new alarm system.
Currently, five members of staff have tested positive, out of a total of 450 employees. No prisoners have the virus.
Serco trialled the scheme at HMP Lowdham Grange out of the six prisons it runs in the UK and five in Australia and New Zealand. Serco says the system, called a personal proximity sensor, is ‘believed to have been the first of its kind in a UK prison.’
A spokesman for the prison said: “The Pathfindr sensor, a small device worn by prison custody officers when on duty on the prison houseblocks as well as by officebased support teams, provides a loud audible warning when another person comes closer than two metres.
“Maintaining social distance in prisons is challenging, given the design and layout of the buildings, which include narrow walkways outside cells, together with the number of people resident and working in a prison.
“The trial at HMP Lowdham Grange used 50 sensors and officers involved found the devices easy to use and reliable.
“Most importantly they made them more aware of social distancing and as a result, they helped maximise adherence to social distancing wherever operationally possible, reducing the number of occasions when the two-metre social distancing rules were broken.”
Wyn Jones, Serco custodial operation director, added: “Serco is very pleased at the success of this trial and we believe this device will help us to keep everyone safe, limit the spread of Covid among our staff and prisoners and reduce the number of staff absences due to track and trace relating to social distancing.
“Our top priority is to keep everyone in prison safe and well and everybody understands that maintaining social distancing in prisons essential in order to limit the spread of Covid.”
Serco has now introduced the sensors into its other UK prisons.
A RETAIL expert said if Nottingham’s John Lewis department store closes it will be “the single biggest blow to Nottingham’s retail sector”.
John Lewis bosses are considering closing the doors on eight more stores from its remaining branches, it has been claimed.
This would be in addition to a further eight closures announced in July 2020.
It is not known which stores would face closure.
John Lewis occupies one of the biggest retail spaces in the Victoria Centre, selling everything from homeware, clothes, jewellery, boutiques and children’s toys.
According to the Sunday Times, the final number of closures is yet to be decided and will depend on negotiations with landlords. John Lewis currently has 42 stores.
It comes after the business announced a £635 million loss in 2020.
The 156-year-old department store chain announced 1,500 redundancies last year – with all workers set to leave the company by April.
Bosses said the move was part of a five-year transformation plan to “return to sustainable profits by 2025”. The job cuts will affect head office roles, a spokesman said, with workers set to be cut or redeployed.
Retail analyst Nelson Blackley, who used to work at Nottingham Trent University Business School, said: “Lots of coverage this weekend that John Lewis might announce more store closures before or at their results presentation on March 11. Not a surprise of course.
“However this is the first speculation about where these might take place – and includes Nottingham.
Clearly it will depend on negotiations with individual landlords around rent.
“If John Lewis in Victoria Centre was to shut that would be the single biggest blow to Nottingham’s retail sector so far.
“I would look at the national picture – which retail brands might be in difficulty and generally speaking it is most of the department stores which we have seen, with Debenhams and mid-market fashion retailers. They have been struggling.
“The current strategic review under the new chair (of John Lewis) has already closed some huge John Lewis stores around the country. I don’t think anyone can assume the John Lewis in Nottingham is absolutely safe.”
East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “The struggles faced by John Lewis, which has been such a strong presence on the high street, are yet another indicator of the plight city centres find themselves in.
“It has been such a hugely dominant brand in Nottingham for many years, given its position as the Victoria Centre anchor tenant, and will hopefully continue to be for a long time to come.
“After losing Debenhams and the Arcadia-owned brands from the city, it’s crucial the city is able to retain its strongest retail assets.”
John Lewis was approached for comment but they said the coverage was driven by a speculative article in The Sunday Times and therefore would not be making a comment.