Health and Social Care in Criminal Justice Key Objectives
Programme The key objectives of the Health and Social Care in Criminal Justice
“Improving the Health of Offenders
Supporting Crime Reduction,
Building Safer Communities”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Health and Social Care in Criminal Justice (HSCCJ) initiative is
intended to widen health involvement with the offender management
system. It seeks to ensure that as partners, health and social care
services play their roles effectively at all stages of the offender
pathway. This includes working with police, court services,
communities, prisons and probation services, service users, non-
statutory organisations and other relevant agencies.
The HSCCJ programme builds on the work already achieved by the
Department of Health and the Home Office to modernise and
mainstream prison health care into the wider NHS. The National
Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Care Services
Directorate of the Department of Health are working in partnership
to, “Improve health, address health inequalities and reduce crime by
maximising the opportunities provided by better integration of health,
social care and criminal justice systems”.
This national policy initiative and major work programme within the
Department of Health aims at widening health and social care
services at a local level in their involvement in offender
management, supporting the policy to reduce re-offending and
promote safer communities.
Programme are to:
Help to improve the quality of life for people of all ages who
experience mental or physical distress or learning disability across
the criminal justice system, by developing partnership working with
local organisations and communities.
To work with health, social care and criminal justice agencies to
develop an integrated, comprehensive, and sustainable Health
Services both within in prisons and community offender care
services within the East Midlands working across non-traditional
boundaries and monitor progress in service development, targets
and milestones, whilst ensuring that policy development is informed
To promote and improve the physical, mental health and social well-
being offenders by reducing social exclusion in order to help reduce
re- offending which promotes safe communities.
To support PCTs, NHS Mental Health Trusts, DAATs responsible for
commissioning and providing primary care, substance misuse
services and mental healthcare services for prisoners.
To improve access to health services for offenders with mental,
physical or a Learning disability To support the implementation of
the NSF’s, the NHS Plan, the Social Exclusion Unit report and other
related policy guidance within the context of the criminal justice
system.
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Strategic Plan
The role of the team is to support local organisations to achieve the
objectives within the Health and Social Care in Criminal Justice
Programme and meet national policy expectations. A Regional
Programme Board that brings stakeholders together has been
formed to take this forward. It has a dual reporting reflecting a
coming together at regional level of this programme and the health
and substance misuse components of the National Offender
Management Services Regional Reducing Re-offending Strategy
The plan is divided into a number of key areas.
To promote a regional and local network to assist PCTs and social
care partner organisations to develop an integrated approach with
statutory and non statutory agencies to develop joint approaches
and services to meet the local Health and Social care needs of
offenders within the Criminal Justice system.
Work areas
Mental Health Prison and community services. Work to date has
focused on offenders in custody. As the programme progresses
emphasis will also be placed on access to community services for
offenders ensuring continuity of care between custodial and
community settings.
Primary Care. Much effort has already been put into this area
within custody. Primary Care Trusts will need to work more closely
with partners to ensure offenders continuity of care and access to
primary care once they return to community settings.
Public Health. Key targets areas are management of long term
conditions, sexual health, communicable diseases, and substance
misuse. The wider agenda of Choosing Health needs to be made
relevant to the criminal justice system.
Vulnerable Groups and those from BME backgrounds. A number
of groups of offenders are identified as vulnerable within the system.
In addition 25% of all prisoners are from BME communities and for
many their needs are not effectively met or account taken of their
culture and beliefs. The programme aims to help address this issue.
Cross Cutting programmes, Children and Families. The priority is to
improve the life chances of children, particularly those in care or who
are socially disadvantaged, linking to the key themes of the
Outcomes Framework for Every Child Matters.
• Be healthy
• Enjoy and achieve
• Stay safe
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well-being
Diversion and Liaison Schemes. Best practice will be identified to
enable health to be an effective partner to Offender Management
and a credible option for sentences to ensure appropriate treatment
for individual offenders.
Workforce. As services modernise and change, to be increasingly
effective workforce issues and training and development needs must
be addressed to ensure the skills, competencies and capacity to
deliver these changing services.
Identified Resources Available
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The HSCCJ Team
To support this initiative funding has been made available from the
Department of health to support this programme; the team
objectives and structure is explained
The HSCCJ team’s objectives are broadly
• Support the EM HSCCJ Group and local offender
healthcare and Prison Broad groups
• Lead the EM HSCCJ programme
• Support the development of Performance indicators for use
by PCT/Prison partnerships
• To give input, as required, into the health-related aspects
of estates provision (e.g. new build)
• Maintaining an effective network of health care managers,
clinical staff, PCT leads and links to outside agencies
• Facilitating good practice eg pathways, health promoting
prisons, SUI procedures and death in custody
investigations
• Advise and support HMPS Area Office and SHA, on prison
health related to national and local performance standards
• Advising the central team on priorities within the Region
• Support health, social care and criminal justice agencies to
work together to produce effective joint working practices
that improve better health outcomes for offenders
The team consists of the following
The HSSCJ Programme Lead
The main tasks of this role will be:
• To support the implementation of HSCCJ strategy and to act
as lead manager on all aspects of it
• To support the implementation of the local offender
healthcare groups by supporting health and social care
organisations in developing local strategies and agreements
in improving closer working practices and relationships in the
treatment of individuals who are in contact with the criminal
justice system
• To support the development of the Integrated Drug
Treatment System within Prisons
• Lead and support the continual development of all healthcare
services in Prisons and for community offenders
The Prison Primary Health Lead
This role has a key responsibility in supporting PCTs and Prison
services colleagues in the delivery of healthcare within custodial
settings. To support PCTs to deliver on the improvement of service
provision offered to offenders is of the same standard as expected to
find in community. To support the and monitor the implantation of
the Prison Health Performance Indicators.
The Prison Mental health development manager
The main role is to assist in mainstreaming all aspects of Prison
Mental Health into the general modernisation of mental health
services across the east midlands.
To develop training strategies for staff working within Prisons the
Police service and wider criminal justice service The current
prevalence of prisoners who have mental health problems is very
clear and the level of self-harm and suicide attempts is well is well
documented.
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The Health and Social care in criminal justice Community
development worker

To support the programme lead to improve the service provision of

promotion of access by offender and ex offenders within the East
Midlands Region. To develop a regional action plan to realise the
recommendation of the forthcoming pubilication of Lords Bradley’s
review on the diversion of mentally people away from the CJS. To
provide support in the co-ordination and delivery of the East
Midlands HSCCJ Work Programme. Working with the Social
Inclusion CSIP project

Action Plan

An Action plan has been produced in the main document.

Further information

Further copies of the full Strategic Plan can be gained from the East
Midlands Development Centre:

Carl Finch
Health & Social Care in Criminal Justice Programme Lead
Pleasley Vale Business Park
Mill 3
Outgang Lane
Pleasley
Mansfield
Notts,
NG19 8RL