Hydebank Wood secures inspection ‘first’ with prisoner outcomes rated at highest level

Two independent inspections of Hydebank Wood Secure College and Women’s Prison (Hydebank Wood) have assessed outcomes for young men and women to be at the highest achievable level for the first time in Northern Ireland.
 
The unannounced joint inspections found outcomes for prisoners in both prisons were ‘good’ against the four healthy prison tests of ‘safety’, ‘respect’, ‘purposeful activity’ and ‘preparation for release’.
 
“Inspectors from Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales (HMI Prisons), the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) were impressed by what they found at Hydebank Wood. We identified evidence of our expectations being met and 10 examples of notable practice that other prisons may be able to learn from,” said Jacqui Durkin, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, and Charlie Taylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons in England and Wales.
 
“Inspectors found strong and effective leadership from the Governor and senior team had generated pride, energy and commitment at every level of management and among most of the staff working there.  Some of the Senior Officers and Unit Managers we met were among the best we have seen,” said the Chief Inspectors.
 
Ms Durkin said the quality relationships between prisoners and staff in both the Secure College and Women’s Prison were at the heart of the prison’s success.
 
“We found well trained authoritative Prison Officers knew the people in their care very well, and positive partnerships with other key services including health care and education and training providers from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) and Belfast Metropolitan College (Belfast Met), made sure each woman and young man received support tailored to their individual needs,” said Ms Durkin.
 
Time out of cell was high during the inspection with young men and women spending at least eight hours unlocked each day with further time available for the best behaved. 
 
Most prisoners were engaged in education, training and work opportunities in the Cabin café, prison tuck shop, the gardens, animal husbandry, recycling workshop and on-site barbers. The Library Team had been innovative in encouraging reading and an interest in writing.
 
“Hydebank Wood also responded well to increases in the remand prisoner population, including some with complex needs, making sure they had the same opportunities as their sentenced peers to receive their entitlements and engage in education, training and work opportunities,” said Ms Durkin.
 
“Standards of behaviour were also good with excellent opportunities available for young men and women to progress into residential units that had more freedom, self-catering facilities and additional time out of cell,” she said.
 
The CJI Chief Inspector also praised the supportive Chaplaincy team and strong links with the voluntary and community sector and local charity organisations that had been developed.
 
“While it is not possible to directly compare levels of violence at Hydebank Wood with similar prisons in England and Wales because of the different ways of collecting data, it was clearly much safer than its comparators.  Only one serious assault was recorded in the last year and most violent incidents were low level,” said Mr Taylor.
 
Mr Taylor also praised Hydebank Wood Secure College’s links with the White Ribbon charity and the work ongoing to educate, engage and inform young men about the impact of violence on women and girls.
 
While both inspections identified many strengths at Hydebank Wood, the Chief Inspectors have raised six key concerns that the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), the SEHSCT and Belfast Met leadership needed to address, by working together, to further improve prisoner and patient outcomes.
 
“While there had been improvements to the approach to adult safeguarding, processes and procedures were still not fully effective and the investigation of safeguarding incidents and serious complaints was not sufficiently robust. 
 
“This has been raised in other prison inspections and the NIPS and the SEHSCT need to put in place a workable Adult Safeguarding Policy at pace that clarifies information sharing arrangements and referral decision making,” said Ms Durkin.
 
Both Inspection Reports identified a need for greater scrutiny of incidents involving the use of force as current arrangements were not robust and could not assure prison leaders that force was always necessary, proportionate and used as a last resort.
 
Inspectors have also recommended that leaders make better use of data available to them to effectively co-ordinate, sequence, prioritise and plan future provision, especially in relation to education, skills and work activities.
 
The number of young men and women who failed to attend planned external hospital appointments because of transport issues was also too high and social care commissioning arrangements, to enable the timely return of young men and women from acute hospital care to the prison, were inadequate and not aligned with provision in the community.
 
“Overall, this was a very positive inspection and it is a pleasure to report on a prison that despite an increased population with some complex needs, was operating far more successfully that most similar prisons inspected in England and Wales,” said Ms Durkin and Mr Taylor.
 
“The outstanding staff team currently in post understand the weaknesses and are keen to learn from the inspections.  By addressing the key concerns identified in these reports, we are in no doubt that Hydebank Wood Women’s Prison and Secure College will continue to improve in the future,” the Chief Inspectors concluded.