HMP Bedford

Updated 31 May 2017

HMP Bedford is a local category B and resettlement prison for young adult and adult males. At the time of the inspection it held approximately 240 young and adult offenders. Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provide the majority of health care services at the prison including, primary health care, mental health, an 11 bedded health care unit and GP services. The location, HMP Bedford is registered to provide the regulated activities of, diagnostic and screening procedures, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

CQC inspected healthcare services at the prison in partnership with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons from 16 to 19 May 2016. We found the provider, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was in breach of the regulations and we issued two Requirement Notices. We asked the provider to make improvements and we followed up on their progress during a focused inspection on 26 and 27 April 2017.

During this focused inspection, we found the provider had made significant improvements and had taken necessary action to meet the notices and was no longer in breach of the regulations.

Updated 31 May 2017

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 26 & 27 April 2017. The purpose of the inspection was to confirm that the service provider, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous joint inspection with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons between 16 & 19 May 2016 and in the Requirement Notice that we issued on the 6 October 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Night time monitoring arrangements for prisoners with drug and or alcohol dependency needs had significantly improved.
• Secondary health assessments now took place in one of two areas, both of which provided an environment which maintained patient confidentiality.
• An inpatient unit pathway was now in place, which meant that only prisoners with identified clinical needs should be admitted to the unit.
• Access arrangements to dental clinics had significantly improved and prisoners had access to a fully operational modern dental suite.
• The standard of cleanliness within the inpatient unit had significantly improved as had the standard of cleanliness across wing based treatment rooms.