HMP Onley

Updated 8 December 2023

HMP Onley is a Category C training and resettlement prison which accommodates up to 742 men with varying sentences. The prison is located in a rural area near Rugby and is operated by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

Health services at HMP Onley are commissioned by NHS England. The contract for the provision of healthcare services is held by PPG, who took over service provision after the last inspection. PPG is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Our previous comprehensive inspection was conducted jointly with HMIP in June 2022 and published on the HMIP website in September 2022. We found a breach of Regulation 12, Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17, Good governance and issued requirement notices to the previous healthcare provider.

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/09/Onley-web-2022.pdf

Updated 8 December 2023

We carried out a focussed announced inspection of healthcare services provided by Practice Plus Group Health and Rehabilitation Services (PPG) at HMP Onley. PPG took over the contract from the previous provider following a joint His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons inspection (HMIP) of the service in June 2022. At the last inspection, we found the quality of healthcare provided by the previous provider at this location required improvement. We issued Requirement Notices in relation to Regulation 12, Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17, Good governance to the previous provider.

The purpose of this inspection was to determine if the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and that prisoners were receiving safe care and treatment.

At this inspection we found that some improvements had been made, however we found that improvements were required in other areas.

We do not currently rate services provided in prisons. We highlight good practice and issues that service providers need to improve and take regulatory action as necessary.

At this inspection we found:

• Staffing levels within the mental health team were not sufficient to meet the demand in a timely manner.
• There was a backlog of applications requiring triage by the mental health team, although action had been planned to address this.
• Patients on the mental health team caseload did not always receive timely support, some patients received regular reviews and had a comprehensive care plan. Other patients had not been seen since their initial triage appointment and had no care plan in place.
• Oversight of subcontracted providers was good, with regular meetings and monitoring of waiting times.
• Improvements had been made in many areas of medicines management.
• Medicines fridge temperatures were not always recorded each day. Action had not been taken to safeguard medicines where temperatures were out of the recommended range.

The provider must:

• Ensure that staffing levels in the mental health team are increased so they can meet patient needs in a timely way.
• Ensure that medicines are stored according to manufacturer’s guidance and action is taken to safeguard medicines supplies in line with the provider’s medicines policy.
• Ensure that blood glucose monitoring equipment is managed appropriately.