Jenny Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners were awaiting initial psychiatric assessment (a) on the last date for which figures are available and (b) in each month of the last three years.

Alistair Burt

Data are not collected centrally on the number of prisoners waiting for an initial psychiatric assessment. Data on prisoners in receipt of an assessment and awaiting transfer to secure hospitals under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 are collected by NHS England since April 2015, through Health and Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) and available data are shown in the attached table, Health and Justice Indicators of Performance – Mental Health Secure Assessment and Transfer. NHS England intends to publish HJIP data online from April 2016.