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<p>About 24% of prisoners transferred from prison to hospital since 2016, under sections
47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983, waited longer than 14 days from the date
the Ministry of Justice received two medical assessments indicating transfer was appropriate
to the actual date of admission to hospital. The Ministry of Justice has a target
of 24 hours within which to provide a transfer warrant, once both medical reports
and all other relevant information is received. This target is met in 95% of cases.</p><p>
</p><p>These figures have been derived from an administrative IT system which, as
with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry
and processing. This figure may not agree with similar figures provided through NHS
England since NHS England calculates waiting times from different transfer pathway
stages. MoJ are working closely with NHS England to improve our joint understanding
of measurement of waiting times.</p><p> </p><p>We take the mental health of prisoners
extremely seriously, which is why we have increased the support available to vulnerable
offenders – especially during the first 24 hours in custody – and invested more in
mental health awareness training for prison officers.</p><p> </p><p>But we recognise
that more can be done and continue to work in partnership with HMPPS, NHS England
and Public Health England to improve mental health services for offenders at all points
of the criminal justice system.</p>
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