Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 96
The ageing prison population has and will continue to increase the need for end-of- life...
Recommendation
The ageing prison population has and will continue to increase the need for end-of- life and palliative care in prisons. We welcome the publication of the Dying Well in Custody Charter and the good practice at some establishments. But standards are not consistent across the estate. In addition, as mentioned previously, we recognise that there has been delay in providing justice for the victims of some prisoners. Again, attention must be given to the needs of the victims of those crimes. The MoJ must ensure that provision of end-of-life and palliative care is properly resourced and coordinated to reflect the current and future needs of the prison population. The MoJ should also review whether, in certain circumstances, terminally ill prisoners nearing the end of their lives would be better cared for outside of the prison estate and how effectively current arrangements for compassionate release are operating in practice.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response focused on pre-release planning for older offenders under a new resettlement model, which did not address the recommendation to ensure properly resourced palliative care in prisons or to review care outside prison for terminally ill prisoners and the effectiveness of compassionate release.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
96
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
End-of-life and palliative care • HMPPS work with NHS England to identity men and women in our care who are at or near the end of their life, to ensure that services are in place prior to need and that, where possible, conversations have taken place to respect their wishes and those of their family when they are dying. This allows HMPPS, NHSE and local authorities to have relevant resources and support services including Hospice support for the patient. We continue to work with health providers and partners to ensure we have the right skill mix and staff to support a patient. Early Release on Compassionate Grounds • The Secretary of State may release a prisoner on licence at any point in the sentence if he is satisfied that this is justified by “exceptional circumstances”. Early Release on Compassionate Grounds (ERCG) allows prisoners to be permanently released on licence early, but only in the most exceptional cases. As such, the bar for ERCG is set high to ensure it balances an individual prisoner’s circumstances with the requirement that the release will not put the safety of the public at risk and that it will serve a specific purpose, such as providing for the care of that prisoner that could not otherwise be provided in prison. • The Government is committed to ensuring that the process for handling applications for ERCG is as quick and effective as possible, so as to ensure timely decisions are made, and will consider stakeholder feedback in any future reissue of the policy documents. The release and resettlement of older prisoners
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