Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available to prison officers experiencing mental illness.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff.

An employee’s GP retains primary responsibility for the care and treatment of mental health problems. NOMS recognises its duty of care to staff and provides wide ranging occupational health services, fast tracking to psychological interventions (where clinically indicated for ill-health due to work related trauma), and offers comprehensive employee assistance (EAP) services which are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in support. Staff are also able to self-refer for counselling by calling a 24 hour helpline in complete confidentiality. A well-established system of Care Teams also exists which provide the social and practical support for staff in the early days following a serious incident.

Innovations and support locally are continually under review and enhanced wherever possible. Assessment of the adequacy of support is ongoing at all levels – locally, regionally, and nationally.