Hope shakes up services for mentally ill offenders

19 Nov 09
A package of reforms intended to keep mentally ill people out of prison and allow offenders equal access to health care services has been revealed
By David Williams

19 November 2009

A package of reforms intended to keep mentally ill people out of prison and allow offenders equal access to health care services has been revealed.

The plans, announced on November 17 by care services minister Phil Hope, will establish a national network of liaison and diversion services, to be up and running in five years.

Under the proposals, staff throughout the criminal justice system will be trained to spot health problems and learning disabilities, while a ‘diversion and liaison’ team will work in each court in England to assess offenders’ needs.

Prisoners will be registered with GPs, and the process of sending psychiatric reports to courts will be speeded up.

A cost-benefit analysis is due to be completed by May, and a ‘clear-cut economic case’ for the financial and health impacts of diversion services will be published in a year’s time.

‘We all know what’s at stake,’ said Hope. ‘Mental health problems, whether drug misuse, learning disabilities or a personality disorder, can lock people into a cycle of disadvantage and criminality. Improving health and support is a way of tackling this negative cycle.’

He promised the approach would work across government, with information being shared between all
parts of the system that come into contact with an offender, from social services to prisons.
‘In many cases, the criminal justice system is our best chance of providing help for those who may otherwise drift off the radar,’ Hope said.

The measures are being put in place in response to Lord Bradley’s review of people with mental illnesses or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, released in April this year.

However, no new funding will be committed. The strategy will instead rely on system reform, smarter working and frontline innovation.

The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, which recommended a comprehensive diversion programme in February, warmly welcomed Hope’s proposals.

A spokesman told Public Finance that, while the plans could not be achieved for free, they would be inexpensive to implement and would quickly pay for themselves.

He said cash could be diverted from unsuccessful schemes and short-term prison sentences, which are expensive and fail to deter serial criminals.

The spokesman estimated that a national network of diversion services would cost about £50m a year.

‘You can do a lot with relatively small amounts of money if you focus on intervening as early as possible and helping people stay in communities,’ he said.

But Sean Duggan, joint chief executive of the Sainsbury Centre, added that the pledges lacked clear lines of accountability.

He added that no timescale was given for implementing the 14-day target to transfer prisoners sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top