During an assessment under our new approach
Date of assessment: 15 to 16 December 2025.
HMP YOI Rochester is a Category C, male adult training and resettlement prison. The prison is located in Rochester. The healthcare services are provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.
We carried out a joint independent review of progress with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) in June 2025, where we found the quality of primary healthcare and medicines required improvement.
We issued a warning notice and an action plan request in relation to breaches of regulation found relating to safe care and treatment, complaints, governance and staffing.
The purpose of this focused assessment was to determine if the provider was now meeting the legal requirements of the relevant regulations. At this assessment, we assessed 6 quality statements across the safe, effective, responsive and well-led key questions. We found some improvements had been made but more work needed to be done.
At this assessment, we found 3 breaches of regulation. The provider remained in breach of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing, and governance.
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.
A temporary management team had recently been drafted in to make improvements in the functioning of the primary care provision. The team had responsibility for overall running of the department as well as undertaking a deep dive into its challenges. The team aimed to review and amend processes to align with other functional healthcare systems at other prisons, to improve the running of the service. The process was in its infancy and whilst this had not translated into improved outcomes for patients in some areas, foundations to some elements of patient care had been strengthened.
Staffing levels frequently failed to meet expected standards, although following a recruitment drive, gaps in rotas had recently decreased and additional funding for temporary cover following the inspection had been sourced.
Staff did not consistently report incidents or ensure that patient appointments were attended, and care plans documented, and medicines were not always administered as prescribed.
Management did not have clear oversight on all areas which required improvement, for example, oversight of appointment attendance and risk, these were highlighted during the inspection and management were responsive to our findings.
In instances where CQC has decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded.