Prison
Cat High Security
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Full Sutton
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 1 June 2023
This report for HMP Full Sutton (Jan-Dec 2022) highlights persistent staff shortages, which led to regime lockdowns and reduced time out of cell. Despite these challenges, the prison maintained a safe and humane environment, showing improvements in education and complaint handling. Key concerns include drug testing levels, inconsistent equalities meetings, and the ongoing development of the STEP unit, with a shortfall in psychological and nursing staff also noted.
Positive Findings
Despite increasing staff shortages and initial COVID-19 restrictions, HMP Full Sutton maintained a decent regime and a safe, calm, and humane environment. The IMB noted improvements in education provision and the quality of responses to prisoner complaints. Accommodation standards are generally good, and the kitchens provide a good service. Healthcare was maintained at an acceptable level, with new procedures leading to shorter waiting times for appointments and innovations like in-prison MRI and ultrasound scanning. The chaplaincy team is effective and proactive, and staff-prisoner relationships are satisfactory.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Continue to develop the STEP unit and ensure its role in the pathway to progression programme is clear, and that it can resume its role of breaking the cycle of segregation.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Ensure equalities meetings are held consistently and improve the focus on equalities, which has been less than it should be.
Substance Misuse
Repeated
Ensure that the focus on drug testing (random, suspicion, and reception) is maintained and takes place to the required levels, as levels remained low.
Mental Health
A shortfall in the number of qualified psychologists at Full Sutton has affected the department’s ability to meet fully its responsibilities in terms of consultancy, parole and category A reporting.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The removal of Resolve (a medium intensity violence reduction programme) as an accredited OBP has led to a gap in suitable courses for some prisoners, delaying access to appropriate interventions.
Substance Misuse
Repeated
The introduction of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous groups, originally planned for 2021, did not take place again in 2022.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The reporting year was marked by increasing staff shortages across all areas, including officer, mental health nurse, general nurse, and psychologist vacancies. Officer shortages frequently led to staff being redeployed from key areas such as safer custody, equalities, and drug testing, impacting service delivery. This continues a trend from 2021, with many vacant posts remaining into 2023. Most qualified psychology staff worked overtime to cover the shortfall.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, provided by Spectrum Community Health CIC, were maintained at an acceptable level despite challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions and staff shortages in mental health and general nursing. Primary care operated at near-normal levels, and waiting times for medical services were broadly in line with community standards. However, planned healthy living groups did not become established, and activities to promote good health and wellbeing have not fully resumed.
Regime & Daily Life
Regime continuity was significantly disrupted throughout the year, initially by residual COVID-19 restrictions, and subsequently by severe staff shortages. This necessitated frequent and short-notice lockdowns, meaning prisoners spent less time out of their cells. From September, a semi-permanent rota of lockdowns was introduced to provide some certainty. Despite the challenges, the prison managed these arrangements well, maintaining access to the gym, healthcare, and social visits, and ensuring regimes remained decent.
Applications to the IMB
Prisoners can apply to their IMB about any aspect of their treatment. This table shows application counts by category.
| Category | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 11 | 11 | — |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 2 | 1 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives, sanctions | 20 | 17 | |
| Equality | 7 | 6 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 6 | 8 | |
| Food and kitchens | 5 | 8 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 43 | 24 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 20 | 16 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 48 | 38 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 13 | 6 | |
| Property within this establishment | 12 | 4 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 21 | 14 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorization | 8 | 5 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 35 | 28 | |
| Transfers | 3 | 4 |
Recommendations (3)
Governor / Director: 3
3 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Continue to develop the STEP unit and ensure its role in the pathway to progression programme is clear, and that it can resume its role of breaking the cycle of segregation (see also section 5.5.3).
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Ensure equalities meetings are held consistently (see also section 5.7.3).
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Ensure that the focus on drug testing (random, suspicion, and reception) is maintained and takes place to the required levels (see also section 4.5.1).
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Other IMB Reports for Full Sutton
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
11 Mar 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 2
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.