Covid-19 praise for prison staff
Staff at two local prisons have been praised for their work under difficult circumstances during the pandemic.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland published its annual report into the Scottish prison estate this week.
In the report, Chief Inspector Wendy SinclairGieben commended the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), NHS and the Scottish Government for their swift response to the pandemic despite, at times, having large numbers of staff absent because of the virus.
She added: “The predictions by numerous academic and third sector groups of catastrophic outcomes, thankfully did not come to pass in Scotland’s prisons and, despite numerous Covid-19 outbreaks, the number of Covid-19 deaths remained low.
“This significant achievement by caring prison and health service teams deserves greater recognition.”
Among the prisons visited by the inspectors were HMP YOI Cornton Vale and HMP Glenochil.
The report said at Cornton Vale the women continued to have “very good relations” with staff, who were knowledgeable about all the prisoners in their care and engaged well, with ongoing conversations and support.
It added, however: “The IPMs (Independent Prison Monitors) continued to have concerns about transport from court, the delays women sometimes face and the sharing of transport with male prisoners. The number of journeys that were not direct from court to prison was a matter of frustration.
“It remains unacceptable that transport from court is shared with men. The IPM team are clear this must be reviewed in future contracts.”
Building work is continuing of the new national facility for women on the current site at Cornton Vale and the inspection team were pleased to hear about plans for the regime in the new facility, and that it will “more accurately reflect the needs of the prisoners”.
“The women at Cornton Vale reported throughout the year that the food on offer was the best in the prison estate,” added the report. “Menu choices were varied and the food appears to be fresh and nutritious.
“During the year there was a concerted effort to reduce the use of [segregation and isolation], which was welcomed by the IPM team.
“Of some concern was the need for other prisons holding female prisoners (Edinburgh and Polmont) to transfer prisoners to Cornton Vale should they need to be separated. The IPM team do not believe this is in the best interests of the prisoners and would like to see this practice cease.”
At Glenochil staff were said to have worked hard to provide as meaningful a regime to prisoners as practicable, albeit on a smaller scale to avoid large groups, and all prisoners had access to a daily shower, time in the fresh air and exercise.
To reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19, prisoners were arranged into small-group bubbles, with prisoners said to have understood the rationale.
However, the inspectors added: “With the prison being managed under restrictions, IPMs were particularly keen to monitor the quality of life of prisoners with additional support needs, particularly the significant number of elderly prisoners. They concluded that they were being managed appropriately.
“As was the case in all prisons, with the staffing complement reduced (for example, where staff were shielding) and restrictions in place, the regime was changed to a shorter ‘core day.’ IPMs acknowledged the need for this change.”
On the wider annual report, the Chief Inspector said she “wholeheartedly commended the commitment, determination and courage of all the staff who continued working throughout this period and indeed the cohesive leadership that emerged during the crisis.”
She added: “We also commend the tolerance and resilience of prisoners forced into extremely restricted conditions ”
The report did say, however, that some longstanding issues had intensified across prisons including overcrowding, social isolation, an ageing estate, access to purposeful and rehabilitative activity, the backlog in offending behaviour work and access to consistent healthcare.