Prison
Cat B/C reception and resettlement prison
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Thameside
IMB Annual Report 2021 · Published 10 November 2021
HMP Thameside operated under a Covid-19 lockdown regime for much of the reporting year, successfully containing the virus but impacting prisoner welfare. The prison transitioned to a restricted regime, and introduced proactive safety management initiatives, including a revised approach to gangs. However, key concerns persist regarding the long-term effects of confinement, delays in mental health transfers, staffing shortages, and insufficient purposeful activity. The IMB also highlights issues with medication dispensing, the healthcare complaints system, and facilities management.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes effective measures to contain Covid-19, with no prisoner deaths from the virus. Positive developments include initiatives for safety management (CSIP, ACCT focus), improved management of Care and Separation Unit lengths of stay, and committed chaplaincy support. The introduction of Purple Visits and innovative library work are noted. Thameside was the first London prison to move out of lockdown stage 4, and a new video conference centre is efficient. Property and staff complaints have decreased, and complaint responses have improved in timeliness and quality. The new pharmacy has opened, and social care support has continued successfully.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
The Board has considerable concerns at the longer-term impact on the mental and physical health and wellbeing, and potentially the future behaviours, of prisoners who have endured prolonged periods of confinement and lack of socialisation.
Resettlement/Release
Staff employed in important prisoner resettlement activities have operated remotely with varying degrees of actual engagement. The education contractor, Novus, provided almost no service to prisoners. Foreign national prisoners, and especially those subject to IS91, have suffered from an absence of Home Office immigration staff visiting the prison and progression of their cases. Many prisoners have been released from Thameside this year with far less resettlement support on accommodation and other matters than they would have received prior to the pandemic.
Mental Health
Repeated
Delays in transferring severely mentally ill prisoners to secure establishments that provide more specialist treatment have been a longstanding concern of the Board. Transfer wait times for these vulnerable individuals have remained this year overall in excess of NHS England guidelines.
Safety
The Board was concerned at the number of prisoners arriving at HMP Thameside on transfer from other prisons with Covid-19 symptoms. These transfers placed other prisoners and Thameside staff at risk.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
There are insufficient opportunities for regular purposeful out of cell activities and jobs at present in Thameside for a prison of 1200 men. To make up this deficiency will require investment. Out of cell socialisation time (association), appropriately managed, is also essential for the welfare of prisoners, and should not be seen as optional.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The Board would like to see the same concentrated focus on improving the quality of the daily lives of prisoners where these can be influenced by the actions of staff, especially in the residential areas. IMB members regularly observe how poor communication between managers can stifle improved outcomes for prisoners, and how lack of empathy or thought can rob them of legitimate entitlements.
Substance Misuse
No mandatory drug testing was carried out this year. Reliable data to assess the extent and nature of the continuing problem of prisoner drug use has therefore been unavailable.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Longstanding facilities management weaknesses – cited by the Board in past annual reports – have now been recognised by senior management and are being tackled with greater vigour. Frequent complaints about inoperable or damaged cell equipment, hygiene issues, and regular breakdowns of lifts remain problematic.
Safety
Repeated
Prison data showed 12% of prisoner emergency cell bells went unanswered for more than five minutes in a sample week in May 2021. An IT problem still prevents the IMB accessing cell bell data for individual cells to help prisoners who raise concerns at the slowness of cell bell responses. The Board reported this issue in last year’s report.
Safety
Despite greater use by staff of body-worn video cameras (BWVCs), facilities to show video evidence in adjudication hearings from BWVCs have regrettably not been installed.
Staffing
The Board is concerned that ongoing staff recruitment and retention difficulties will hinder the full return to more acceptable and humane conditions for prisoners after 16 months of permanent lockdown.
Other
Most issues raised, and actions agreed, in the PIAC (prisoner information and communication) forum meetings were not followed up by staff or managers, and hence reappeared repeatedly in forum minutes. The forum met infrequently.
Food/Catering
Repeated
Halal food on some wing serveries was being cross contaminated with non-halal food by incorrect use of utensils, inadequate equipment and a misunderstanding of the requirements. This had been a concern raised with senior managers on a number of previous occasions.
Healthcare
There have been serious lapses in daily medication dispensing, including the dispensing of incorrect medication, which in one instance led to a prisoner being hospitalised and triggered an independent investigation by the NHS Commissioner.
Complaints/Property
The healthcare complaints system, with its formal 30-working-day response window, is wholly inappropriate to the operational reality of Thameside prison, as many prisoners will have left before receiving a substantive response. Issues with responses being undated, lacking reference numbers, not addressing the issue, and illegible signatures were also noted.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels were often tight due to high turnover and sickness. At year-end, 26% of Serco staff, including 19% of prison custody officers, had joined since lockdown, meaning many only know a restricted regime. The Board is concerned that recruitment and retention difficulties, exacerbated by better-paid external jobs, will hinder the return to a more humane regime. Issues with key worker sessions, including inaccurate recording, were noted. Cancellation of gym sessions due to staff shortages highlighted the problem.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, successfully kept Covid-19 cases low. However, the Board notes unacceptable and longstanding delays in transferring severely mentally ill patients to specialist facilities. There were serious lapses in medication dispensing, including incorrect medication incidents which led to a prisoner being hospitalised and an independent investigation. Mental health assessment waiting times remain a concern, and the healthcare complaints system is deemed inadequate due to a formal 30-working-day response window that is impractical for the prison environment, and administrative issues with responses.
Regime & Daily Life
HMP Thameside operated under a Covid-19 exceptional delivery model, meaning most prisoners spent 23 hours or more daily in shared cells with severely restricted out-of-cell time. This prolonged confinement caused considerable concern for prisoners' mental and physical health. While limited easing increased outdoor exercise and reintroduced social visits and outdoor gym, the latter was frequently cancelled. Purposeful activity opportunities and jobs were minimal (134 available), leading to concerns about the sufficiency of activities for a prison of 1200 men as the regime normalises.
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 transfers) | 29 | 19 | |
| Adjudications | 32 | 21 | |
| Complaints to prison | 8 | 8 | — |
| Food | 1 | 3 | |
| Foreign national prisoners (including Rule 35) | 7 | 7 | — |
| General conditions | 19 | 11 | |
| Healthcare | 95 | 107 | |
| Other | 23 | 19 | |
| Property | 39 | 76 | |
| Rule 39 (legal letters) | 4 | 3 | |
| Segregation | 11 | 10 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns (including bullying) | 85 | 93 | |
| TOTAL | 355 | 380 | |
| Vulnerable prisoners (including ACCT) | 2 | 2 | — |
Recommendations (4)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 1
Governor / Director: 1
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
The Board has considerable concerns at the longer-term impact on the mental and physical health and wellbeing, and potentially the future behaviours, of prisoners who have endured prolonged periods of confinement and lack of socialisation.
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Delays in transferring severely mentally ill prisoners to secure establishments that provide more specialist treatment have been a longstanding concern of the Board. While the government’s positive response to Sir Simon Wessely’s mental health review is noted, transfer wait times for these vulnerable individuals have remained this year overall in excess of NHS England guidelines.
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
The Board stresses to HMPPS the importance of all prisoners having the opportunity to engage in regular purposeful out of cell activities and jobs. However there are insufficient such opportunities at present in Thameside for a prison of 1200 men. To make up this deficiency will require investment. Out of cell socialisation time (association), appropriately managed, is also essential for the welfare of prisoners, and should not be seen as optional.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 4
The Board would like to see the same concentrated focus on improving the quality of the daily lives of prisoners where these can be influenced by the actions of staff, especially in the residential areas. IMB members regularly observe how poor communication between managers can stifle improved outcomes for prisoners, and how lack of empathy or thought can rob them of legitimate entitlements.
Governor / Director
Regime
Other IMB Reports for Thameside
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.
Prevention of Future Deaths Reports
Coroner PFD reports issued to this establishment.