Baroness Stern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Stern on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the conclusion of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons in his recent report on HMP Belmarsh that there was no evidence that the quarterly health reviews of all prisoners in the High Security Unit and the Special Security Unit required by the operating standards had been carried out.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The HSU / SSU is visited daily by a nurse who will speak with every prisoner to establish whether there are any issues. The GP will visit the unit weekly (as a minimum). As part of the HMIP Action Plan that is being developed the Operating Standards are currently under review which will address the issue regarding quarterly reviews.

The reference in the report was regarding one prisoner who was seen with discipline staff present; the privacy and dignity of prisoners is taken very seriously within HMP Belmarsh, however this must be balanced against the risk that the individual poses to others. Prisoners will be seen without escorting staff unless the risk is deemed to be too high, this is an exceptional circumstance rather than the rule.