UK: 'PPO’s learning lessons bulletin: self-inflicted deaths among female prisoners’

28th March 2017

UK Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen has highlighted a “lack of concerted and sustained action” following a rise in the number of suicides among female prisoners. He says reforms proposed 10 years ago to prevent vulnerable women killing themselves had not been implemented.

Publishing ‘PPO’s learning lessons bulletin: self-inflicted deaths among female prisoners’, he pointed out that lessons identified in this new review of cases had been highlighted previously by his office and by other inquiries, but had not been implemented.

The publication identifies a number of important areas of learning in dealing with self-inflicted deaths amoung female prisoners, including: better assessment and management of risk; improving suicide and self-harm prevention procedures; addressing mental health issues; combating bullying, and ensuring timely emergency responses.

Read the report here.