CONCERNS have been raised about overcrowding and the level of health care in a North-East prison, according to a new report looking at life behind bars.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP Durham says it remains "very concerned" after it found two prisoners occuphing cells that should have single occupancy.

Safety is one of the Board’s key monitoring objectives and this reporting year has shown the lowest number of deaths in custody over the past five years.

Read more: Durham prisoners having to wait eight weeks to see a GP

The IMB report reflects over the period November 2020 to October 2021, in which the prison experienced outbreaks of Covid and 950 prisoners were held under two strict national lockdown regimes.

Throughout the annual reporting period IMB members monitored the prison through visits with some remote monitoring.

Dr Thérèse Quincey, IMB chair said, “This has been another challenging year for prisoners and HMP Durham with varying restrictions under different stages in the prison.

“The board is satisfied from the evidence collated that the prison has been well managed and strategies have been implemented to ensure prisoners are safe and their wellbeing maintained”.

Read more: Concerns after deaths of six men at Durham Prison

The report found the prison has implemented systems to support vulnerable men on entry into the prison, also those at risk of suicide or self-harm through the ACCT system (Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork), which helps to prevent self harm.

The board has monitored with weekly frequency and is satisfied with the process.

It adds: “The prison is obligated to ensure prisoners are treated fairly and humanely and through observations and prisoner engagement the prison has prioritised humane and dignified treatment."

However the board has concerns regarding the level of healthcare in HMP Durham- in two areas in particular.

Firstly, it finds, on arrival from court some prisoners are not given a healthcare assessment prior to moving to the first night centre.

Secondly, prisoners should have a secondary health screening within seven days of arrival. Compliance in this area is extremely poor.

While healthcare staff are seen to be caring, the board is concerned about the logistical management of these processes.

Support in the form of drugs and alcohol addiction is very well managed by the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team (DART). Mental health treatment is offered through an Integrated Support Unit (ISU): both are valuable resources.

Violence in the prison shows a significant reduction of total assaults, with Covid lockdowns being a factor contributing to the reduction of opportunities for violence.

The prison implemented a weekly Covid Forum with prisoner representatives from all wings, departmental staff and third parties: two- way communication was the key objective. A prisoner survey, conducted by the IMB, revealed that this initiative was very successful.

The IMB conducted a major prisoner survey entitled ‘Life under Lockdown’ during April 2021 where 110 prisoners were interviewed face-to-face and invited to give their views.

The results were mainly of a positive nature which revealed that 79 per cent said they had coped well under lockdown, 85 per cent said the prison had managed Covid well. More than 90 per cent said staff had treated them well and 88 per cent of prisoners felt safe during the pandemic.

During Covid outbreaks strict lockdown measures had to be implemented which impacted upon prisoner movement, with most of their time spent in cells.

HMP Durham is a Reception Prison which means the volume of daily admissions presents greater challenges of bringing the virus into the prison, wiht covid impacting upon waiting times for medical appointments.

Family contact through social visits had to be suspended but access through video and telephone was maintained.

Vice-Chair, Keith Young said, “Board members have specific areas of interest where members accept responsibility to observe and monitor in order to gather evidence. They utilise a range of sources in order to determine whether the prison is meeting its obligations."

IMB Chair Dr.Thérèse Quincey said, “Our monitoring of the prison has been carried out under the National Monitoring Framework which identifies four main elements - safety; humane treatment; health and wellbeing and progression and release”.

A spokesperson from Spectrum Community Health CIC said: "Spectrum Community Health CIC acknowledge your query in response to the recently published IMB Report relating to HMP Durham

“As with all IMB Reports Spectrum has reviewed all the findings in the report and are working closely with our employees, HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) and NHS England to ensure any findings for improvement are being addressed and implemented.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Durham remains within its operational capacity, but the 20,000 prison places we are building will help reduce the number of double occupancy cells across the estate.”

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