Lessons for commissioning and health outcomes from Her Majesty’s Prison Birmingham
Journal of Public Mental Health
ISSN: 1746-5729
Article publication date: 7 November 2018
Issue publication date: 22 November 2018
Abstract
Purpose
This study of HMP Birmingham was part of a much larger investigation of health needs assessment (HNA), in the context of a new “HNA Toolkit” developed by Public Health England for use in the prison service. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
In 2015, details of prison healthcare in HMP Birmingham had figured in the authors’ analysis of documents. In 2018, a crisis in Birmingham typified problems developing more widely in England and Wales. Was the crisis predictable from the initial HNA?
Findings
Recommendations embodied in the 2015 HNA were not acted upon; the eventual problems that combined to overwhelm the running of HMP Birmingham were predictable.
Originality/value
Lessons from this case study could inform more coherent commissioning of prison health services. This in turn could promote timely developments for improved health and morale in the prison, amongst prisoners and staff. Longer term, this might help to avoid future crises.
Keywords
Citation
Cassidy, J. and Caan, W. (2018), "Lessons for commissioning and health outcomes from Her Majesty’s Prison Birmingham", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 224-227. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-10-2018-0067
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited