IPP. In a nine-day diary — one officer reported , self-harm and suicide of prisoners happened every day except one. Futher MP Victoria Prentis said veteran and women also IPP prisoners that had low reoffending rates and should be considered for early release to reduce the prison population

           Impossible’ pressures causing rise in suicides

PRISON officers spoke of their sorrow yesterday as they remembered colleagues who had taken their own lives due to high stress levels at work.

Suicide and mental illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and depression are in direct correlation with work misery, officers said, and also contribute to relationship breakdowns and social isolation.

HMP Wayland delegate Michelle Atkins addressed the Prison Officers Association (POA) annual conference to commemorate a colleague who had killed himself before last Christmas.
She said she was “absolutely sure” the tragedy had been caused by stress as her co-worker had been open in talking about his troubles and the extremely poor work conditions they endured.

Another delegate spoke of the suicide of a female officer which was attributed to long hours and prison pressures caused by low-staff numbers.


The link between work stress and poor mental health has been highlighted by an independent health and wellbeing survey carried out by the University of Bedfordshire.

Dr Gail Kinman, who led the research, said that conclusions drawn from the 1,680 responses from prison officers in England and Wales had been “really worrying.

” None of the six Health & Safety Executive management standards were met, according to the survey, which was published to coincide with mental health awareness week.

Only 10 per cent of the officers felt they had sufficient backing from their own managers after suffering prisoners’ verbal and physical abuse, it also revealed. Stigma could also prevent officers from sharing their worries as “stress is like this dirty word,” Dr Kinman said.

In a nine-day diary — involving seven consecutive 11-hour shifts — one officer reported , self-harm and suicide of prisoners happened every day except one.

A disturbing 84 per cent of respondents said that they felt pressured to go to work when ill, with governors “constantly” calling sick officers, even on the first day of bed rest, to ask when they would return. “This is one of the most important findings of the survey,”

Dr Kinman said.And in a wretched testament to the toll that overcrowded and understaffed prisons have taken on workers, the average life expectancy after retirement was found to be only 18 months.
Three-quarters of those surveyed admitted fears over whether they would be able to carry out their role and receive full pensions by reaching retirement age, currently set at 68.

Andy Hamlin, a delegate from HMP Elmley, said that “employers do not give a rat’s backside about our health and wellbeing.” 

Prison officer numbers were cut by 41 per cent during the five-year Conservative-led coalition and the POA fears that the dire situation will get even worse under an even crueller Tory majority government.
Joe Simpson, of the POA national executive council, urged delegates to download the report to send to their MPs.He said: “We want to live in dignity and decency after much hard work in public service.

 

 

 

Comments

 

 

Gleeson

 Liz Truss never answers the questions because she does not have the answer. Her plan is i hope what I will offer will work out in  months?  in fact it likely to take  years .  only doing what the other did  before her  little but talk. The amount of officers  and money mentioned is  Laughable.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38765381  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38353433 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38414416 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-38344319  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38353436

 

 

Brackenbury

Mine was one of the  lucky ones who was found in time, cut down and revived, doesn't mean I don't still live in fear but I'm getting him back on track slowly, his I believe was one of the occasions in March 2016, it's disturbing seeing this, especially sexual assaults, stabs/gunshots?? Traumatic injuries and it seems it's a daily occurrence too! And this is just one prison!

The biggest question puzzling me of liz trusses proposal of 1.6 billion (or whatever it is!) for brand new bigger prisons....is where is she going to pull all these extra officers,from to run them??... Her ar.. maybe where she pulls all her other "good ideas" from! Has somebody not told the poor woman we don't have enough as it is!! If it wasn't so serious I'd have to laugh at the stupidity!! Someone with half a brain please stand up.

 

I  have the Freedom of information request on call outs to East England ambulance service to hmp wayland from 2011- March 2016! Sad to see my partners suicide attempt on the list below.Ambulance called outs to Wayland  Prison  demonstrating the bigger picture.

 

 

 Brackenbury

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banbury MP Victoria Prentis said veteran and women prisoners had low reoffending rates and should be considered for early release to reduce the prison population

 

The Justice Select Committee member made the comments in a debate on the prison population, which has nearly doubled since the 1980s to 85,000.

But she admitted the proposal was just "tinkering around the edges".

The Banbury MP member added Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners - who remain in prison for public safety - could also be released.

'Shift sentencing framework'

In the Commons debate on Wednesday, she said: "Women prisoners and veterans have very low reoffending rates. But this is tinkering around the edges of the large prison population at the moment."

 

In November last year Justice Secretary Liz Truss unveiled a White Paper detailing £1.3bn investment in new prisons over the next five years, and plans for 2,100 extra officers.

But some high-profile prison riots in HMP Birmingham, Bedford and Lewes towards the end of 2016 led the National Council of Independent Monitoring Boards to claim low staffing levels had contributed to the disruption.

 

Ms Prentis added: "If we can't recruit, as I accept the department is trying desperately hard to do, would the minister commit today to at least considering whether we should have a shift in the sentencing framework, a shift... to community-based alternatives?"

Prisons minister Sam Gyimah, responding to a range of points at the end of the debate, said: "It is incredibly simplistic to say that the problems in our prisons are simply due to staffing.
 

 

 

Our prisons have changed and to deal with that complex problem, we need a multifaceted set of answers. That is what this Government is not delivering." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7734-Suicidal-prison-staff-at-the-end-of-their-tether#.WItHtY9viUl
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38755318