Jail’s health gets better after ‘poor’ inspection

Progress has been made at a Scottish prison where serious concerns were raised over its provision of healthcare, according to inspectors.

On a visit to HMP Perth in May last year, a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) gave a “poor performance” grading to the prison for health and wellbeing.

Breaches of confidentiality, an apparent ineffectiveness of the smoking cessation service and problems maintaining a suitable workforce were among the issues raised by inspectors.

Inspectors returned to the prison in November to consider what work had been carried out to address the issues highlighted.

A HMIPS report said HMP Perth had invested “considerable time and resource” to improve healthcare provision since last year’s May visit.