Prison
Cat Women's local, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Eastwood Park
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 21 March 2025
HMP/YOI Eastwood Park, a closed local prison for women, faced significant challenges in the reporting year, particularly concerning high levels of self-harm and use of force incidents. While staffing shortages and the concentration of complex prisoners strained the regime, efforts were made to improve healthcare, purposeful activity, and resettlement support. The Board highlighted concerns regarding mental health transfers, estate development, and the overall impact of managing complex individuals on staff and the general prison population.
Positive Findings
The Board commended the Governor and senior team for their efforts to keep the prison population safe despite complex challenges. Excellent examples of staff empathy and de-escalation were observed. Reception was consistently clean and staff attentive. Improvements were noted in parcel reception, catering standards, and property management. There was successful recruitment of overnight nursing and GP services, and social care provision was generally good. Educational attendance improved, and initiatives like the Rubies group achieved Koestler Awards. PACT provided invaluable support to families, and significant improvements were made in resettlement planning, with housing and employment specialists proving successful.
Key Concerns
Safety
Repeated
Throughout the reporting year, the Board has been deeply concerned about the levels of self-harm. Eastwood Park accounted for 38% of all prolific incidents in the women’s estate, where seven of the most prolific individuals were responsible for 4,204 incidents.
Safety
There were 1039 use of force incidents in the reporting year, which is deeply concerning, double the number in the previous reporting year.
Mental Health
Long delays remained for some of those identified for transfer to mental health units and their move to different locations.
Healthcare
There were challenges for women with multifaceted social care needs, as the prison has no dedicated unit. Officers appeared to do their best, but did not have the specialist skills required.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The workshops continued to be under-used and were not operating as originally intended in the reporting year.
Overcrowding
Repeated
It is essential that individuals who prolifically self-harm are more evenly distributed throughout the women’s estate to help reduce the adverse pressure on the regime and staff in a single prison.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Proposals to replace residential unit 7 have not been finalised, and assurance is sought on a permanent building with a gender-specific, trauma-informed design.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Prisoners are still subject to lengthy journeys to appear in court, and the proposed video conferencing centre is not yet operational.
Staffing
Staff compassion burnout, injuries and attacks from prisoners during restraints appear to have had an impact on the goodwill of some staff.
Staffing
Low staffing levels and the high number of inexperienced staff impact the running of the prison.
Resettlement/Release
Gaps in provision remain for programmes to address offending behaviour, with a view to reducing re-offending.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison operated with minimum staffing levels, leading to stretched and exhausted officers, low morale, and limited key work. Constant supervisions and bed-watches frequently curtailed activities for other prisoners and contributed to staff compassion burnout, injuries, and attacks. The Board expressed concern about the impact of low staffing levels and the high number of inexperienced staff on the prison's running.
Healthcare
Healthcare services experienced fluctuating levels, particularly overnight, though successful recruitment improved continuity by the end of the year. GP services expanded, but delays in securing health records from Wales and transferring prisoners to mental health units persisted due to bed shortages and assessment issues. Challenges remain for women with multifaceted social care needs due to a lack of dedicated units. AWP's mental health and substance misuse teams received positive feedback, and services for personality disorders are being developed.
Regime & Daily Life
The regime was consistently disrupted by minimum staffing levels and the demands of managing complex prisoners and prolific self-harmers, leading to restricted unlock and less time out of cell for the general population. This created resentment and a fractious atmosphere. A new core day in May improved regular time out of cell for education and work, but the high number of constant supervisions continued to impact overall purposeful activity.
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 | 26 | 53 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 5 | 8 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 5 | 6 | |
| Equality | 6 | 6 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 13 | 8 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 10 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 65 | 71 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 16 | 25 | |
| Miscellaneous | 13 | 8 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 2 | 0 | |
| Property within this establishment | 23 | 46 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, time out of cell | 14 | 13 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 25 | 15 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 38 | 28 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 2 |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 7
Governor / Director: 2
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Ensure individuals who prolifically self-harm are more evenly distributed throughout the women’s estate to help reduce the adverse pressure on the regime and staff in a single prison.
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Confirm when a decision will be made about future expansion of Eastwood Park.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
The Ministry of Justice advised that good progress was being made with developing designs for gender-specific, trauma-informed accommodation. The overall project has been paused due to a national review of the capital programme.
Recommendation 3
Finalise proposals to replace residential unit 7, ensuring the replacement building is subject to a feasibility study/whole-life costing and provides a permanent building with a gender-specific, trauma-informed design in accordance with the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan 2022-2025.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 4
Ensure the proposed video conferencing centre becomes operational to reduce lengthy prisoner journeys to court.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 5
Implement measures to reduce the number of use of force incidents, which have doubled in the reporting year.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 6
Address the serious issue of staff compassion burnout, injuries, and attacks from prisoners during restraints.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 7
Mitigate the impact of low staffing levels and a high number of inexperienced staff on the running of the prison.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 8
Ensure the activity centre is fully operational.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Make progress in the development of the first residential women’s centre.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Response
It was confirmed that some funding had been made available. Premises have been purchased in Swansea for conversion into a residential women’s centre and planning permission obtained. The programme to convert/open this facility is unknown.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. addressed
Address dampness on residential unit 2.
Governor / Director
Estate
Response
Following a survey of residential unit 2, it was deemed unfit for habitation and closed in July 2022. Tenders were obtained for dampness remediation and refurbishment works. Due to delays in commencing these works, residential unit 2 did not reopen until April 2024.
Other IMB Reports for Eastwood Park
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.