Prisoner mental health support needed - watchdog

Prisoners at a Staffordshire jail are in need of greater mental health support, a watchdog has found.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for HMP Oakwood, in Featherstone near Wolverhampton, highlighted a 22% increase of self-harming incidents in its annual report into whether prisoners are treated fairly and humanely.

It also noted a 40% increase in the number of support cases opened for those at risk of self-harm and suicide.

However, the report also stated more than 27,000 hours of visits and 8,000 social video calls offered to prisoners had a positive impact on wellbeing.

The IMB findings, published on Friday, included concerns that prisoners who required transfers to a secure mental health facility had to wait over the 28-day timeframe.

A survey carried out by the board in January into food provision at the all-male facility also found that 94% felt the overall quality of meals provided were bad or very bad.

From the prisoners who responded, 68% said they did not have enough to eat at meal times.

The report also highlighted property loss was the biggest cause for complaints.

It said: "Far too often, prisoners were transferred to or from Oakwood without their personal property, which may be of sentimental value or irreplaceable, causing them a great deal of frustration and upset."

The board also raised concerns about the number of prisoners released into homelessness, as well as the low proportion of those entering employment once their time is served.

On a whole, the prison was reported to generally be a safe and secure environment.

Barbara Evans, IMB HMP Oakwood Chair, said: "The accommodation was maintained to a good standard, the prisoners kept the grounds immaculate, and there continued to be many prisoner-led initiatives that supported prisoners through their sentence.

"There have, however, been some issues of concern which the IMB has brought to the attention of the director and the minister.

"We are pleased to report, however, that the director and his staff team have been working on food improvements as far as they are able to within the budget that is made available."