Custody medical information

The IMB report for North East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber STHFs highlights generally positive staff-detainee interactions and a relaxed atmosphere at Swinderby RSTHF, but raises significant concerns across the wider STHF estate. Key issues include inadequate risk identification processes, the inhumane policy of confiscating medication, and the unsuitability of several holding facilities. The Board's ability to monitor effectively is severely hampered by restricted access to records and persistent unresponsiveness from the Home Office regarding critical concerns, including medical confidentiality breaches and emergency response failures.

This report details the operations of London's Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHFs) from February 2024 to January 2025. While positive aspects include safe environments, respectful staff interactions, and improved medical support, significant concerns persist. These include extended detention times in unsuitable conditions, particularly for children, lack of privacy, and inadequate access to medication and reliable translation services. The IMB makes recommendations to the Minister, UK Border Force/Home Office, and Mitie Care & Custody to address these systemic issues, many of which are recurring from previous reports.

The need for hourly observations over prisoners arriving too late to be seen by the healthcare department highlights an important need. Those responsible for transport should be aware of those prisons without 24-hour healthcare provision.

Efforts should be made and training provided as necessary to ensure that the health screening on arrival is a useful tool, ensuring that potential vulnerabilities are identified at the start of a period of detention and can be taken account of.

Detained individuals who are held for more than a very short period of time, should have access to a qualified medical practioner.

The Minister is urged to request that the Home Office carry out an urgent assessment of the risks to detained people as a result of the removal of their prescription medications. These risks should then be taken into account when designing a practical strategy for ensuring that detained people receive their appropriate medication. The desired outcome would be that the …

How will you ensure that all healthcare staff in reception have access to SASH (suicide and self-harm) and PER (person escort record) documents? (4.2.4)

The need for hourly observations of prisoners arriving too late to be seen by the healthcare departments highlights an important need.

We do not believe that the arrangements for the monitoring of the medical welfare of detained individuals within the holding rooms are adequate and in particular there is potential risk to the health of an individual who needs urgent access to their medication or medical equipment.

The Home Office should ensure that the new system for giving detainees access to their prescription and over-the-counter medication is designed and implemented without further delay.

What plans will be put in place to achieve an improved and sustained delivery of “secondary health screening within 7 days”? (6.2.3)

That the administration of detainees’ personal prescribed medication, in airport HRs be resolved forthwith.

To develop a process with healthcare to ensure there is documented sharing of appropriate health information with prison staff (paragraph 6.1.8.).

There seems to be some limitations in communication between HMP Bronzefield and the prison (for example, with regards to transferred prisoners with significant mental health conditions and with missing property and medication issues). Is this because HMP Bronzefield is a private prison, and systems and processes may not be compatible?