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The Belmarsh Scheme a Prospective Study of the Transfer of Mentally Disordered Remand Prisoners from Prison to Psychiatric Units

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sube Banerjee*
Affiliation:
UMDS (Guy's Campus) Division of Psychiatry & HMP Belmarsh
Kiki O'Neill-Byrne
Affiliation:
UMDS (Guy's Campus) Division of Psychiatry & HMP Belmarsh
Tim Exworthy
Affiliation:
UMDS (Guy's Campus) Division of Psychiatry
Janet Parrott
Affiliation:
The Bracton Clinic, Bexley Hospital & HMP Belmarsh
*
Dr Sube Banerjee, Section of Epidemiology and General Practice, The Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF

Extract

Background

Contracting in psychiatric services from the NHS into prisons has been advocated to improve the care of the mentally disordered in custody. The Belmarsh Scheme is such a service.

Method

A prospective study investigating the characteristics of a six-month cohort of remand prisoners requiring transfer to hospital and evaluating the service's effectiveness.

Results

Fifty-three (4.3%; 95% CL 3.2% to 5.6%) of the 1229 new remands required transfer to hospital; all were accepted. The transfer group contained a higher proportion of black men (51%) than all other remands (30%) (difference 21%; 95% CL 8% to 35%, P = 0.002). Transfer times were lower than those reported for a neighbouring prison.

Conclusions

The Belmarsh Scheme secured in-patient psychiatric care rapidly for all those identified as needing it.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995 

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