Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that health professionals working in prisons have adequate provision to employ telemedicine when appropriate.

In the past 12 months, NHS England has helped to support the adoption of digital technology and solutions including the use of telemedicine across the secure and detained estate. A cross-Government digital working group to support the digital strategy has been set up which includes representatives from the Department, NHS England, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice.

In response to COVID-19, telemedicine is expected to be deployed at speed across the English secure and detained estate, including prisons, over the next few weeks. Each site will have a telehealth starter pack which includes a licence to access telehealth approved software within prisons as well as some hardware to support. This solution will enable video calling for primary care, secondary care and mental health appointments within the dedicated healthcare facility.