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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 ,
Kiki O'Neill-Byrne ,
Tim Exworthy  and
Janet Parrott
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
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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
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 166 , Issue 6 , June 1995 , pp. 802 - 805
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995 

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