Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Injustice? Towards a better understanding of health care access challenges for prisoners, published by Nuffield Trust on 21 October 2021, what steps he plans to take to improve planning of hospital services to meet the high and specialised needs of prisoners being admitted to hospitals in England.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are ensuring prison screening programmes are re-established and effective access to external treatment pathways is made available through telemedicine or in person hospital attendance.

In order to improve the understanding of existing medical conditions and needs of those entering the secure estate, such as drug use, mental health and alcohol-related disorders, NHS England and NHS Improvement are reviewing and updating the reception screening tool across the adult secure estate.