The Justice Secretary has recently announced that he has agreed with the Secretary of State for Health that our officials work together to ensure that any prisoner can have mental health treatment equivalent to the best they would receive in the community.<\/p>
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Officials are currently drawing up options for the scope of this work, including consideration of specialist mental health centres within the prison estate. Until these options have been developed, I am unable to say what form they may take and in which prisons they may operate.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4183", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Faulks"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Faulks"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-11-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-11-04T15:15:37.58569Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-10-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prisons: Mental Health Services"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government which prisons in England and Wales will include a new specialist mental health centre as part of their health care provision.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "type" : "http://data.parliament.uk/schema/parl#WrittenParliamentaryQuestion", "uin" : "HL2244"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/100051", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/100051/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Every death in custody is a tragedy, and the Government is committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These procedures include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. Prisons are also required to ensure that they have procedures in place to learn from deaths in custody to prevent future occurrences.<\/p>
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We are working hard to understand the reasons for the recent rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths, but there is no simple explanation. Additional resources and support are being provided for safer custody work in prisons, and in particular to improve the consistency of the ACCT system. The National Offender Management Service has also put in place additional staff at regional level to support staff in prisons and to share good practice, and created a dedicated learning and knowledge management team at headquarters which is providing further support for safer custody work.<\/p>
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