HMP YOI Doncaster

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 for this key question. We found that improvements had been made to the mental health triage process as well as the introduction of a weekly allocations meeting.

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

At our previous inspection, we identified a backlog of patients awaiting a mental health assessment between July and August 2025. The provider was unable to accurately quantify the number of patients waiting, limiting oversight of access to the service.

At this inspection, we found that arrangements had improved. The provider now had effective systems to monitor patients awaiting a mental health assessment, including the number of patients waiting and the time elapsed since referral. Data demonstrated improved access to assessments. Since April 2026, all patients requiring an urgent mental health assessment had been seen within 48 hours. Between April and August 2026, an average of 87% of patients requiring a routine mental health assessment were seen within 5 days, exceeding the provider's target of 75%.

At our previous inspection we found that there was no forum in place to discuss new referrals and allocations for mental health patients. The absence of an allocations process meant that some staff carried significantly higher caseloads than others.

At this inspection, we found that a weekly referrals and allocation meeting was held with all mental health staff on duty. Discussions with the mental health lead demonstrated that caseloads were being allocated and managed evenly across the team, providing assurance that the process was operating effectively.

At our previous inspection, we identified a high number of outstanding tasks allocated to the mental health team. The electronic clinical record system enables staff to assign actions, known as tasks, to individual staff members or teams, allowing actions to be recorded, monitored and tracked through to completion.

At this inspection, we found that there were 6 open tasks allocated to the mental health team. However, all 6 tasks had been received on the day of inspection and were therefore awaiting review and action. This demonstrated that the increased oversight and monitoring arrangements introduced by the provider had been effective in reducing the backlog of outstanding tasks and improving the timely management of actions.

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.