Source · IMB Annual Report

Gartree

AI-generated report summary HMP Gartree maintains a calm and ordered environment with positive staff-prisoner relationships, though faces significant challenges with its ageing infrastructure and an increase in use of force incidents. While basic healthcare access is good, mental health services and purposeful activity require improvement. The Board highlights key concerns regarding building repairs, drug infiltration, fire safety, and adequate provision for vulnerable prisoners, while acknowledging efforts in staff recruitment and regime development.

Year: 2023 Published: 14 May 2024 Type: Prison · Cat B Recommendations: 31 Key concerns Positive findings

Original IMB report page ↗

Safety statistics

Incidents during reporting year

Indicator	This year	Previous
Deaths in custody	1	9
Self-harm incidents	266	242
ACCT cases opened	155	127
Prisoner assaults	24	53
Assaults on staff	69	58
Use of force	326	228

Positive findings

AI-generated summary

HMP Gartree demonstrates effective leadership, providing a fair and consistent regime, with HMIP reporting positive progress in safety, respect, and resettlement outcomes. Prisoners generally report feeling safe, and relationships between staff and prisoners are positive. The Board commends the efforts in maintaining purposeful activity, promoting literacy, and ensuring new gate security initiatives. Staffing levels have improved, and food provision, including special diets and religious festival recognition, is commendable. The Board also welcomes the introduction of a Young Adults Strategy.

Key concerns

13 items

Estate/Conditions Repeated The fabric and building infrastructure at Gartree, including the time it takes for repairs to happen, inadequate showers, persistent heating problems, leaking roofs, and dangerous flooring on stairs and landings.

Equality/Diversity Repeated The facilities for some of the older/disabled prisoners, which remain inadequate, with not enough cells large enough to accommodate all wheelchair access requirements and full accessibility.

Mental Health Repeated The Board has continued to struggle to obtain meaningful data about healthcare provision to enable monitoring of waiting lists and patients’ clinics, etc, so that we can ascertain whether or not they are being provided at a satisfactory level. • We ask the Minister to explain how the Ministry of Justice perceives the performance of prisoner healthcare at HMP Gartree when compared against the performance specification in the contract. • The Board is concerned that the length of time some prisoners have to wait to access specialist mental health services appears to be increasing.

Education/Purposeful Activity The Board is concerned that too many men are not meaningfully engaged in education or work opportunities.

Substance Misuse Repeated The continued influx of drugs and illicit items, with the seeming inability of the Prison Service to identify and restrict drone activity. • The Board also queries the number of additional contractors working in the establishment, and the increased risks this may present for illicit items to be brought into the establishment.

Safety The use of force (UoF) has increased significantly over the reporting period despite a reduced prison population. Source wording under review

Segregation Repeated Overall, the number of prisoners segregated in the SAPU and on residential wings has remained lower in the past year. However, there have still been a few prisoners held in the SAPU for several months, due to a lack of suitable alternative accommodation within the prison estate or a secure mental health unit/hospital. The Board remains concerned about the effects this has on the prisoners’ mental health and also on the staff who are expected to look after them.

Safety Repeated Some prisoners who have been at Gartree for a number of years have reported to the Board that they have never had a fire drill or been told what to do should such an event happen.

Resettlement/Release There has been a huge backlog of prisoners who have achieved category C status being unable to move on from Gartree in the reporting year. That said, towards the very end of the reporting period, some movements have been facilitated.

Food/Catering Repeated Repair or replacement of essential equipment in the kitchen is still an issue, affecting hygienic food production.

Complaints/Property Following searches, the Board is concerned that prisoners who have items ‘confiscated’ are not always advised fully of the reasons and the paperwork is not always available. There are also some issues when prisoners don’t receive ‘in possession’ property from Reception in a timely manner.

Regime/Time Out of Cell The Board is concerned that some prisoners are in receipt of lower levels of pay than at other establishments (for similar work) or by virtue of their educational attainment. What does the Governor intend to do about prisoners’ pay inconsistencies?

Safety Can the Governor give further assurance that staff will be adequality trained to ensure they challenge all and any prisoners who cover their observations panels? This has been raised in a number of PPO reports about Deaths in Custody.

Recommendations

31 items · 13 repeated

Recommendation 1

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

Will the Minister confirm, again, that the necessary funding will be made available to Gartree to address the unacceptable state of the showers? In the response to the IMB’s 2021-2022 annual report, the Minister advised that ‘shower upgrades have been incorporated into the fire safety improvement programme…’. The building work on B wing took much longer than advised and there was little evidence that the shower repairs were comprehensive. The Board was dismayed to see that where an accommodation block had been unoccupied for well over 12 months, the opportunity had not been taken to fully upgrade showers, decorate and replace dangerous flooring on stairs and landings, for example, let alone ensure the wing was returned to the prison by the main contractor in a clean and tidy condition. Can the Minister provide assurance that lessons have been learned from this as the fire safety programme moves throughout the other residential wings at Gartree?

Repeated Source text verified

Response

£13.5 million funding investment is specific to the fire safety improvements, including the fire alarm upgrade in the residential areas and the shower refurbishments. Approximately £680,000 for the shower refurbishments. Estate investment bids are being developed for HMP Gartree, including the replacement of heating and hot water boilers, site wide.

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

Can the Minister confirm that new funding bids will be supported, and budgets will be allocated to address the seriously deteriorating fabric and infrastructure of Gartree, regardless of the confirmation that a new prison will now be built next to Gartree?

Repeated Source text verified

Response

Assurance given that a new prison will not impact on the maintenance of any existing prisons, nor does it change the bidding process for capital maintenance investment.

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 3

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

Is it cost effective to deal with repairs in this way, when prisoners, including those on the over 50s wing, have been left for days during particularly cold periods with no heating at all? Can the Minister confirm that the overall responsibility for the fabric lies outside the control of the Governor and the LTHSE? When issues arise that cannot be resolved in a timely or satisfactory manner, who should be held to account?

Repeated Source text verified

Response

Improvements have been made and are ongoing with the heating and hot water pumps and valves. This is linked to a new Building Management System continuing to be changed to improve control over these systems across HMP Gartree. Temporary heating boilers have been installed in G and H wings whilst sustainability options are considered for a permanent solution.

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 4

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

As the prison population continues to rise and age, the fabric of the buildings continues to cause problems with disability access for elderly and disabled prisoners. Even on Gartree’s dedicated over 50s wing, there are not enough cells large enough to accommodate all wheelchair access requirements and full accessibility. What alternative provisions for this population are being considered?

Repeated Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Equality

Recommendation 5

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board acknowledges the Minister’s response to our last report, which advises that contract managers and local processes may be in place to allow stakeholder engagement, the Board remains concerned that with Facilities Management, in particular, there does not appear to be an effective way of ensuring issues are always dealt with in a timely and effective manner.

Repeated Source text verified

Response

HMPPS has invested in ensuring there are appropriate governance and assurance frameworks with appropriate Contract Managers and Leads in place. Meetings are held with relevant stakeholders and Terms of References with providers are identified to ensure consistency and effective stakeholder engagement. Local processes are in place to monitor services such as facilities management, education and healthcare and the Governor will be able to discuss those in more detail with the Board.

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 6

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board has continued to struggle to obtain meaningful data about healthcare provision to enable monitoring of waiting lists and patients’ clinics, etc, so that we can ascertain whether or not they are being provided at a satisfactory level.

Repeated Source text verified

Response

NHS England Midlands Clinical and Quality Team continues to review and monitor all clinical information alongside the Commissioning Team throughout the healthcare contract life cycle. In terms of performance, recent quality indicators, as of March 2023, confirm that the healthcare service at HMP Gartree regularly completes 100% of First Reception screens and 100% of Second Reception screens. There is an active programme of patient engagement, with no waiting lists for dental care or patients to see a GP, both of which are better than community services, and there are no patients waiting to see a primary care practitioner. It is recognised that there is a 26% vacancy rate. However, bank and agency staff are covering this shortfall and the recent Care Quality Commission inspection reported that these staff have been supported to integrate into the service successfully. In addition, any serious incidents are reported consistently and in a timely manner.

Recorded status:

Topic: Healthcare

Recommendation 7

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

We ask the Minister to explain how the Ministry of Justice perceives the performance of prisoner healthcare at HMP Gartree when compared against the performance specification in the contract.

Source text verified

Response

Recorded status:

Topic: Healthcare

Recommendation 8

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board is concerned that the length of time some prisoners have to wait to access specialist mental health services appears to be increasing. What can be done to improve the assessment and access to these services? Please can the Minister explain how the Government intends to address longstanding and yet unresolved problems with the assessment and transfer of prisoners who present with serious mental health and personality disorders from Gartree to suitable secure hospital (as per section 47, Mental Health Act 1983)?

Repeated Source text verified

Response

Acknowledged the Board’s query regarding equivalence of healthcare services and concerns about people in prison with complex health needs. The Ministry of Justice is committed to improving health outcomes for people in contact with the criminal justice system. In 2024, NHS England will be undertaking a comprehensive review and consultation exercise of all prison healthcare service specifications.

Recorded status:

Topic: Mental_health

Recommendation 9

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board urges the Minister for a further update about how prisoners at Gartree who are substantially over tariff and subject to the consequences of the now discredited ‘sentences of imprisonment for public protection’ (see Criminal Justice Act 2003) will be affected.

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation 10

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

In view of the ‘cost of living crisis’ affecting many people in the UK, will there be any financial support provided to prisons to cope with the rapidly increasing cost of living and increasing energy cost pressures?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Other

Recommendation 11

Addressee: HMPPS

Are there clear procedures to be followed during such searches?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Safety

Recommendation 12

Addressee: HMPPS

Can the Prison Service confirm who ultimately is responsible for monitoring fire safety compliance in Gartree?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Safety

Recommendation 13

Addressee: HMPPS

For yet another year, the Board remains concerned that repair or replacement of essential equipment in the kitchen is still an issue. Can the Prison Service confirm that the service level agreement with the supplier/contractor is being adequately managed and reviewed? Can penalties be applied when, clearly, timely responses to address such issues at Gartree are not being addressed and adequately dealt with? The Board requests the Prison Service confirm the structure within the service that ensures that the contracts performance is being achieved in accordance with the signed contract.

Repeated Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Food

Recommendation 14

Addressee: HMPPS

The following question is repeated from last year’s annual report: will the Prison Service work with the Board to ensure that it has access to necessary information, such as healthcare data, for example, so that the Board is able to monitor more effectively how well the prison is meeting the standards and requirements placed on it and what impact these have on those in its custody?

Repeated Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Healthcare

Recommendation 15

Addressee: HMPPS

Can the Prison Service confirm that Gartree will receive sufficient ongoing budget and capital funding so that prisoners can live and staff can work within a safe, secure and decent environment? The Board has noted that other prisons have received substantial investment to improve their infrastructure, and the Board, based on the information provided over the years, fails to understand why Gartree has not received this level of investment.

Repeated Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 16

Addressee: HMPPS

Will the Prison Service ensure that Gartree will be sufficiently funded so that prisoners’ access to employment, purposeful activity, education and healthcare can be addressed as quickly as possible?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Education

Recommendation 17

Addressee: HMPPS

Can the Prison Service confirm to the Board who has overall responsibility for the health and wellbeing of prisoners at Gartree?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Healthcare

Recommendation 18

Addressee: HMPPS

Will the prison’s annual staffing budget be sufficiently increased to ensure that staffing levels can be maintained and increased, as any reduction ultimately impacts directly on safety in Gartree and the daily lives of prisoners. Will there be any review of staffing budgets in the coming year, and will the Prison Service continue to provide a sufficient number of detached, uniformed staff to ensure safety and fair and humane treatment for prisoners?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Staffing

Recommendation 19

Addressee: HMPPS

What further support can be provided to ensure that key work is delivered consistently and to a high standard for all prisoners?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Regime

Recommendation 20

Addressee: HMPPS

Can the Prison Service clarify if the complaints’ procedure for healthcare provision at HMP Gartree is audited in line with standard complaints made under the COMP1/2 procedures? The Board is concerned that some prisoners appear to be unhappy about the responses they receive with regard to healthcare complaints or concerns. Are the Prison Service and the Governor satisfied that the healthcare provider has a robust and transparent approach to deal with prisoner complaints and that responses are consistent with the principles of procedural fairness.

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Complaints