Recommendation 23

Several stakeholders provided written evidence on how crowding and capacity pressures are impacting health and drug treatment in prisons.78 For example, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) noted that the strain at some reception prisons are under means that prisoners do not always receive the required health assessments or safety interviews. It warned that this creates significant risks as many prisoners report feeling suicidal when they first arrive and have health problems, including drug and alcohol dependency.79