Durham prisoners having to wait eight weeks to see a GP

A report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that 264 prisoners were on the waiting list for medical services during the inspection, including numerous prisoners who were suffering with complex mental health illnesses and substance abuse.

Many new arrivals did not receive health care screening and deficiencies with the appointment booking system added to problems in accessing care, according to the findings.

Read more: Mark Page: Police praised for painstaking detective work

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “The quality of health care in every area, from GP appointments to mental health provision, was suffering from some serious staff shortages. Prisoners frequently complained to inspectors about the difficulties in getting treatment or medication.”

Alongside the report, Mr Taylor also found prisoners spent too long locked in their cells, particularly if they had just arrived at the prison – some could only spend half an hour in the open air every day and 45 minutes undertaking domestic tasks, as well as 43 per cent of men, including some high-risk prisoners, were released from the prison without suitable accommodation to go to.

According to the inspector “there were not enough activities or work, and the education provider had been too slow to restore face-to-face educational and vocational training workshops”.

HMP Durham. Picture: NORTHERN ECHO.

Despite the negativity surrounding HMP Durham, yesterday’s report found that leaders at the category B prison had brought down levels of violence by almost two-thirds since the previous inspection.

Joint working between security, drug strategy and safety managers had led to the reduction, and the rate of violence and disorder was below the average for a local prison in England.

This was reflected in the Inspectorate’s survey of prisoners, where fewer men than at the previous inspection said they had experienced verbal abuse, physical assault, threats or intimidation, or theft.

Read more: Why Reeth Road in Richmond was closed

Inspectors underlined the potentially illegitimate use of force and poor practice in some cases, despite an overall decline in physical intervention. Urgent action was required to make sure staff received the training they needed and effective systems were in place so incidents could be reviewed.

Mr Taylor added: “Much credit must go to the impressive governor and to what was a generally strong leadership team, who had worked together to reduce the supply of drugs into the prison.

“This had contributed to a more than 60 per cent fall in violence since our last inspection, making the prison one of the safer category B locals in the country. Throughout the inspection the prison felt calm and generally well-ordered.

The inspectorate report showed that 264 prisoners from HMP Durham were waiting for GP services. Picture: NORTHERN ECHO.

“Durham prison has shown some impressive improvements since our last inspection and the governor and his team should be proud of the progress the jail has made, particularly considering the challenges caused by the pandemic.

“The inspection team left optimistic that if senior leaders remain in post and the issues raised in this report are addressed, the prison can continue to make good progress.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054