HMP Leeds

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We assessed 1 quality statement under this key question. We found that the service had improved the systems and processes used to assess patients’ health, care and wellbeing needs. Clinics essential for assessment, including blood tests and second healthcare screenings, were no longer frequently cancelled, and effective oversight was in place to monitor and manage any cancellations. Compliance with national guidance for completing second health screenings within 7-days had improved significantly and was now close to the national average. The introduction of a daily Early Days in Custody (EDiC) meeting supported a systematic, multidisciplinary review of all new receptions, enabling early identification of risks and to check that necessary care referrals were made.

Find out what we look at when we assess this area in our information about our new Single assessment framework.

During the last inspection, we found that blood test clinics and second healthcare screening clinics were frequently cancelled, which negatively impacted the assessment of patients’ health, care and wellbeing needs.

At this inspection, we found that clinics essential for assessing patients’ needs, including blood test clinics and second healthcare screening clinics, were no longer frequently cancelled. The service had implemented an audit to monitor clinic cancellations, enabling leaders to maintain oversight and ensure that, where possible, the same clinic was not cancelled consecutively. Where cancellations did occur, the audit supported staff to identify affected patients promptly and rebook them into the next available appointments.

The service had strong oversight of second health screenings and had made improvements to align practice with national guidance, which advises their completion within 7 days of an individual arriving in prison. Data reviewed during the inspection demonstrated significant improvement in compliance with this target, with performance now approaching the national monthly average. Given the size of the prison population, and the high volume of patient admissions and discharges associated with a Category B reception and resettlement prison, this represented a positive development. The service was also able to account for factors influencing reported compliance, including patients held on overnight stays, those released or transferred within two to 7 days, and those on ‘no access visit’ lists, all of which limited the ability to meet the 7‑day timeframe.

The service had introduced a daily EDiC meeting as part of a wider implementation of an integrated care pathway model. The purpose of this meeting was to review all new patient arrivals from the previous day, systematically assess their reception health screenings, identify any missed risks or gaps in care, and make additional referrals where required. A multidisciplinary approach was in place, with attendance from primary care, pharmacy, mental health, and substance misuse teams.
We observed one of these meetings and found that it functioned effectively, supporting holistic assessment and the timely identification of patient risks during their early days in custody.

The judgement for Delivering evidence-based care and treatment is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for How staff, teams and services work together is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Supporting people to live healthier lives is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Monitoring and improving outcomes is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.

The judgement for Consent to care and treatment is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Effective key question.