Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mental health support is available to prison staff.

In full recognition of the challenging aspects of prison-based work, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is committed to providing a range of formal and peer led mental health support for prison staff. Modes of support offered include self-referral to counselling via a 24 hours and 365 days a year confidential telephone helpline and self-referral for online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Management led referrals are routed to the Occupational Health (OH) provider where assessments and feedback on fitness for work or work adjustments are relayed back to the manager with employee consent. OH assessments are conducted by qualified specialist nurses, doctors and mental health clinicians. For work related trauma management, face to face or virtual Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is offered if clinically appropriate. OH also offers a Post-Covid 19 syndrome service which provides structured mental health support as well as physical support.

Proactive mental health support, by the means of ‘Reflective Sessions’ is delivered by a third-party provider and mental health qualified practitioners. Reflective Sessions take the form of individual or group sessions at either HMPPS or supplier premises. The sessions aim to both reduce the likelihood that staff will experience adverse effects as a result of working on programmes with offenders or high-risk cases, and to increase the likelihood of the experience of positive effects as a result of this work. A wide range of mental health promotion proactive wellbeing workshops are also offered and delivered either via Teams or in person in prisons.

Peer support groups include Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners, Care Teams and Mental Health Allies. Chaplains are also well-established to provide mental health support to prison staff and prisoners alike.

Employee wellbeing apps are available to be downloaded on mobile phones and tablets which provide up to date guidance, support and signposting to a range of employee physical and mental health support services.

In September 2020, working in collaboration with the Samaritans and the Zero Suicide Alliance, HMPPS introduced a staff self-harm and suicide prevention campaign, Reach Out, Save Lives. Backed by the Lord Chancellor, the campaign drives a consistent message about reaching out to support one another and seeking assistance and aims to impact and challenge cultural norms around a publicly sensitive topic.

HMPPS Occupational Health and Employee Assistance policy and the Post Incident Care policy are in place to support staff.

A comprehensive section on Stress Risk Assessment is available on the employee intranet Health and Safety site. Guidance includes a stress toolkit designed for both employees and managers.