IPRT believes that responsibility for the provision of healthcare should be transferred from the IPS to the HSE. In addition to this, IPRT believes that those with mental illness should be diverted away from the criminal justice system and should be treated within a community setting, where possible.
This section includes posts on health in prison, including mental health and drug policy.
27th February 2013
Revolving Doors Agency has published a report evaluating service user views of five mental health projects in the criminal justice system.
31st July 2012
In the second part of his report from Mountjoy Prison, Gary Culliton of The Medical Times examines how mental health is managed in the prison.
31st July 2012
A new Vera Institute(USA)report, Closing the Gap, calls for early identification of mental health needs and better interagency communication between criminal justice and health services.
19th July 2012
In the first of a two-part report by The Medical Times, Gary Culliton reveals the challenges facing severely mentally ill prisoners in Mountjoy.
16th July 2012
Spending on pharmaceuticals increased by 20% from 2004 and 2010, due to significant increases in the numbers of people being sent to prison, compounded by the high prevalence of mental illness in prisoners and a lack of adequate psychiatric and drug treatment in prisons.
12th July 2012
UK government social care White Paper promises to clarify responsibility in relation to the provision of care of elderly prisoners.
27th April 2012
IPRT made a detailed Submission to the Cross Sectoral Group on Mental Health and Criminal Justice in April 2012.
4th April 2012
The Inspector of Mental Health Services has published a National Overview of Forensic Mental Health Services in Ireland in 2011, outlining current service delivery, unmet needs and how this sector might best be developed in years to come.
12th December 2011
This report, published by the Prison Drug Treatment Strategy Review Group, reviews drug treatment and interventions in prisons and for people on release from prison in England. It goes on to make several recommendations relating to drug treatment programmes in prison and the community.
11th August 2011
June Shannon examines whether the State is meeting the basic human rights of Irish prisoners with a mental illness in an overcrowded and decaying jail system.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.