Recommendation 1
The Director should ensure that the recommendations made by Instructors relating to the use of force are fully implemented.
Source · IMB Annual Report
Oakwood
AI-generated report summary HMP Oakwood maintains good overall safety and humane treatment, with commendations for staff collaboration, peer-led initiatives, and positive reception processes. However, significant concerns persist regarding the quality and quantity of education provision by Novus due to staffing issues, and a lack of national progress on prisoner property transfers. Other key issues include inconsistent use of force implementation, deteriorating cell facilities, and challenges in healthcare provision such as medication transfers and secondary care capacity. The Board will continue to monitor these areas in the next reporting period.
Year: 2020
Published: 7 Aug 2020
Type: Prison · Cat C
Population: 2,060
Recommendations: 8
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 6 | 6 |
| Self-harm incidents | 1,176 | 871 |
| ACCT cases opened | 783 | 692 |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board commends the collaborative approach between SMT and staff, the extensive range of peer-led initiatives, and the SMT's willingness to encourage new ideas. Family support work, the Visitors’ Hub, and the Patient Led Experience of Care UK are highlighted positively. Reception and induction processes are delivered professionally and comprehensively, and the standard of end-of-life care is commended. The CSU is noted as clean, well-maintained, and professionally managed, fostering a supportive environment. Staff-prisoner relationships are generally excellent, and Aramark is praised for its catering services, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and Ramadan. Improvements have been made in implementing recommendations from external bodies, and there was a 65% reduction in property applications to the Board within the prison. Healthcare staff are also commended for their initiatives promoting health and wellbeing.
Key concerns
The prisoners are yet to receive the quality and quantity of educational provision that they are entitled to from Novus, impacted by significant and challenging staffing issues, including poor staff retention and recruitment and increased sickness levels, leading to non-delivery of new courses.
The Board commented in last year’s report, about its concerns relating to the management, accountability and transfer of property across the prison estate and little seems to have been done at a national level to improve on this.
Has a local protocol been agreed with the Police regarding local Police response times and how they are monitored? • Has the Security Department developed a protocol with the local Probation Office regarding former prisoners’ visiting HMP Oakwood? • Has representation on the local Criminal Justice Board been achieved? • Will CCTV be further improved in the Visits area? • Have links been made with the local community /Neighbourhood Watch Group? • Has guidance been produced for staff on the preservation of evidence?
Recommendations made by Instructors relating to the use of force are not being fully implemented.
Showers and toilets in cells have been in constant use since the prison opened and are beginning to look tired and are increasingly difficult to keep clean and hygienic. The adequacy of shower curtains can be a concern, particularly the fittings of the curtains.
Staff are not consistently enforcing the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) across all houseblocks, and the regular availability of appropriate cleaning materials is lacking, preventing serveries from being maintained to a consistent standard of hygiene and cleanliness.
Health complaints boxes do not always have forms in them and are not easily available or accessible for some prisoners.
New arrivals have complained they have been left without their medication on their first night and sometimes longer because the sending prison did not send medication.
Whilst staff follow the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) guidelines on medicine management at the medicine hatches, there should also be an officer managing those prisoners queuing for their medication. The Board is concerned that over the year IMB members have observed occasions when officers have not been present to supervise the prisoners The Director should ensure that officers are present at the medicine hatches during the dispensing of medication.
The delay in checking telephone numbers before a prisoner is allowed to call his family can often take days and sometimes longer, resulting in families not being informed of the move.
Duty Director’s reports indicate that body-worn video cameras are not always being used by operational staff.
Agency nurses attending Good Order Reviews in the CSU do not always appear to have the necessary awareness of the complex needs of the prisoner.
The Board is concerned about the follow up arrangements for recommendations that the PPO has made over the year in relation to health and referrals to secondary services and those made by consultants in relation to prisoners’ healthcare needs. What can be done to implement the recommendations and/or improve good practice in this area? HMP Oakwood is currently allocated 8 external secondary services appointments per day, due to Oakwood’s large population and complex patients. The numbers of hospital referrals we receive outweigh what can be facilitated.
The wages paid to prisoners undertaking vocational courses are less than working in Industries, which can make a difference to prisoners when choosing a course.
There appears to be a lack of internal evaluation showing the outcomes and benefits of the training provided by Education, partly due to a new reporting system being developed by the Ministry of Justice.
From January to December 2019 there were 109 Discrimination Incident Reporting Forms (DIRF) submitted and for the period January to March 2020 there were 30 DIRFs submitted. This has been an increase; in 2018 63 had been submitted and for January to March 2019 there were 19 submitted. The main trend in 2019 was race-related matters. This is an area that the Board will monitor in the current reporting year.
Time frames can be an issue when referring cases to the secure estate for prisoners experiencing severe mental health problems.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
The Director should consider a request to HMPPS for upgrade of the shower and toilet facilities and an upgrade of the shower curtains and fittings in the cells.
Recommendation 3
Following concerns expressed in last year’s AR, the Director should consider again, how to ensure that staff enforce the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) across all houseblocks and ensure the regular availability of appropriate cleaning materials so that the serveries are maintained to a more consistent standard of hygiene and cleanliness.
Recommendation 4
The Director and Head of Healthcare should review the positioning of the health complaints boxes to ensure better access to them by prisoners.
Recommendation 5
At the prison an appropriate system and subsequent follow up should be put in place to ensure that this does not happen.
Recommendation 6
The Director should ensure that officers are present at the medicine hatches during the dispensing of medication.
Recommendation 7
The Director should ensure that all instances of missing property are quickly followed up and that the checking of phone numbers is done as soon as possible.
Government response
It is unfortunate and regrettable that prisoners’ property continues to be an issue. The development of the new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework involved a large project undertaken in summer 2019. Following the conclusion of the project, HMPPS has worked closely with stakeholders to consult on proposed changes to the policy. Discussions ahead of consultation with IMB members began with the IMB Secretariat in late February 2020, who proposed meetings take place with Board members in April. In light of the pressures placed on Boards by Covid-19, HMPPS agreed with the IMB Secretariat to pause this consultation until August and September. This work is now moving forward again and the feedback received from IMB members at these meetings will then be considered alongside the comments received earlier this year from other stakeholders, with the intention that the revised draft policy framework will be circulated for wider consultation at the end of 2020. The new Prisoner Escort and Custody Service 4 Generation contract also began during August 2020 with a new fleet of vehicles which allow for an additional half box of consumable items to the limit of 7.5kg to be carried for each prisoner on top of the existing agreed volumetric limits. In addition to this, HMPPS is looking at what more can be done to encourage prisoners to send out or dispose of excess items to reduce the amount of property that cannot transfer with them. Steps are also being taken to ensure there is a consistent approach when prison staff forward on any excess items to prisoners at their new establishment after a transfer has taken place.
Recommendation 8
The Board feels that there should be a national Ministry of Justice directive in relation to the management, accountability and transfer of property across the prison estate.
Government response
It is unfortunate and regrettable that prisoners’ property continues to be an issue. The development of the new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework involved a large project undertaken in summer 2019. Following the conclusion of the project, HMPPS has worked closely with stakeholders to consult on proposed changes to the policy. Discussions ahead of consultation with IMB members began with the IMB Secretariat in late February 2020, who proposed meetings take place with Board members in April. In light of the pressures placed on Boards by Covid-19, HMPPS agreed with the IMB Secretariat to pause this consultation until August and September. This work is now moving forward again and the feedback received from IMB members at these meetings will then be considered alongside the comments received earlier this year from other stakeholders, with the intention that the revised draft policy framework will be circulated for wider consultation at the end of 2020. The new Prisoner Escort and Custody Service 4 Generation contract also began during August 2020 with a new fleet of vehicles which allow for an additional half box of consumable items to the limit of 7.5kg to be carried for each prisoner on top of the existing agreed volumetric limits. In addition to this, HMPPS is looking at what more can be done to encourage prisoners to send out or dispose of excess items to reduce the amount of property that cannot transfer with them. Steps are also being taken to ensure there is a consistent approach when prison staff forward on any excess items to prisoners at their new establishment after a transfer has taken place.
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 45 | 38 |
| Adjudications | 22 | 19 |
| Benefits and Allowances | 14 | 12 |
| Canteen | 28 | 32 |
| Chaplaincy/Faith | 1 | 3 |
| Clothing | 27 | 18 |
| Dental Care | 17 | 10 |
| Drugs & Alcohol | 13 | 12 |
| Education & Library | 26 | 32 |
| Employment (Prison) | 39 | 36 |
| Escorts | 6 | 9 |
| Finance | 58 | 49 |
| Food | 12 | 13 |
| Healthcare (General) | 12 | 38 |
| Mental Health | 5 | 8 |
| Other | 120 | 126 |
| Parole/Lifer | 10 | 14 |
| Perpetrators of abuse | 1 | 2 |
| P.P.O. | 0 | 0 |
| Property (Internal) | 20 | 33 |
| Property (Transfer) | 71 | 78 |
| Racial Awareness | 2 | 2 |
| Religion | 0 | 0 |
| Security | 14 | 15 |
| Segregation Unit | 4 | 5 |
| Sentence Calculations | 19 | 16 |
| Social Care | 1 | 0 |
| Staff (including applications against staff) | 16 | 21 |
| Telephones | 26 | 22 |
| Total | 700 | 711 |
| Training (Vocational) | 5 | 7 |
| Visits | 17 | 15 |
| Welfare | 6 | 7 |
| Workshops | 2 | 1 |
Related inspections & investigations
Safety 4
· Respect 4
· Activity 4
· Release 3
Mark Jones · Natural causes
Haifong Bian · Natural causes
Other reports for Oakwood
· Self-harm 1,392
· Concerns
Population 2,135
· Self-harm 1,366
· Concerns
Population 2,097
· Self-harm 1,388
· Concerns
Population 2,067
· Self-harm 1,139
· Concerns
Population 2,048
· Concerns
Population 2,047
· Self-harm 887
· Concerns