Healthcare staff
in prisons will be better placed to tackle the challenging health
needs of prisoners as a result of a national prison healthcare IT
system now installed in all prisons and young offender
institutions across England.
All clinicians now have ready access to up to date medical
information making it less likely that the physical and mental
health needs of prisoners and young offenders go undetected. Early
intervention and preventative care will improve as healthcare
staff have round the clock access to prisoners' medical
history and current conditions at multiple sites within a prison.
Prisoners will also benefit from improved continuity of care as
they move between prisons, with medical records immediately and
securely transferred from one prison to another. And staff are
having to spend less time on administrative tasks – freeing up
their time to concentrate on patient care.
Over 5,000 healthcare staff are using the system at 136 English
prisons and young offender institutions, including three
immigration centres where the NHS is responsible for healthcare.
The final prison to go operational with the system was HMP Feltham
at the end of last month.
Paul Burstow, Care Services Minister said,
“This provides a firm foundation to take offender health forward
in a digital age. The ability to access prisoners’ medical records
when they are needed, from the first moment that they are received
into a prison, is crucial to the delivery of effective healthcare.
“This system is a worthwhile investment that will support
healthcare professionals working in prisons in their very
challenging roles.”
Louis Appleby, National Clinical Director for Health in Criminal
Justice said,
“For healthcare staff working in this demanding field, using the
same kind of technology that’s already established in general
practice is crucial to improving their ability to provide safe and
effective care.
“Prisoners usually have complex and multiple healthcare problems,
which are treated by different members of the healthcare team, so
the system has a major role to play in supporting team-working and
ensuring healthcare professionals are sighted on all aspects of
the treatment being provided.”
Sir Keith Pearson, Chair, National Advisory Group for Health and
Criminal Justice said,
“Effective information sharing is key to tackling the challenging
healthcare needs of the offender population, and ensuring they get
access to the right treatment, when they need it. This system in
prisons sets the bar for ongoing work needed to improve the
quality of data, records and information sharing right across the
criminal justice system, in direct support of partnership working
and the systematic assessment of a person's health needs.
Improved continuity of care means that fewer people will fall
through the cracks.”
Notes to Editors
1. The system, SystmOne Prison, is in operation across all 136
prisons in England including the three immigration centres
providing NHS commissioned care.
2. SystmOne Prison, from software supplier TPP, is based on a
leading GP system and has been developed over many years to meet
the unique requirements of healthcare professionals working in
prisons. Its use encompasses areas such as: admitting prisoners,
transferring prisoners, prescribing and administering medication,
clinical templates, clinic administration and security.
3. The Prison Health IT programme which has overseen the
roll-out of the national clinical IT system is a team effort
between NHS Connecting for Health and the Offender Health team at
the Department of Health, SHAs, PCTs the National Offender
Management Service and local service provider CSC and its software
supplier TPP..
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk