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<p>The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe,
and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm
incidents across the estate. We know that prisoners are at increased risk during the
early days in custody and in the period following a transfer between prisons. This
is why, as part of our prison safety programme, we are continuing our efforts to support
prisoners by:<br>• improving staff knowledge and understanding of the factors known
to increase risk of self-harm, to help them to identify and respond appropriately
to prisoners at risk. Our revised introduction to suicide and self-harm prevention
training has already reached over 17,000 staff;<br>• improving the flow, quality and
use of risk information about people coming into our prisons, to support effective
decision-making about risk;<br>• renewing our partnership with Samaritans by confirming
a further three years’ funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme, and working with
them to share learning from the ‘Coping with Life in Prisons’ project, a successful
pilot initiative in which Samaritans-trained ex-prisoners delivered emotional resilience
training to groups of newly-arrived prisoners;<br>• producing an early days toolkit
to help staff enhance their support for prisoners during their first few days and
weeks in custody; and<br>• improving the multi-disciplinary ACCT case management process
for those identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide.</p>
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