Sceptre Point

We spoke with NHS England who commissioned the service provided at the prison by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust. NHS England advised that a quality audit of medicines at the prison was undertaken in March 2015 and as a result a medicines management plan would be put in place.

We spoke with five patients' who used the service. Patients told us of delays in getting their medication. Other patients told us of instances when medicines were not available when they went to collect them.

We found since our last visit that enough GP and dental sessions were provided to meet patients' needs.

Systems around monitoring performance delivery were in place and ensured an oversight of all areas of service delivery, however systems needed to be developed further to ensure a consistent approach in respect of medicines management.

We spoke with NHS England who commissioned the service provided by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust. They told us they did not have any concerns about the services provided at HMP Wymott at the time of our inspection.

We saw that staff from the team had good working relationships with other partner agencies across the prison including prison staff. This meant that prisoners were assured good joint working arrangements were in place around their care and treatment.

Patients had to wait up to eight weeks to see a GP and up to 21 weeks to see a dentist. These waiting times are denying patients access to care and treatment in a timely manner. Systems around the monitoring performance delivery need to be developed so as to take account of all aspect of the service that patients' received.

There was not enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet patients' needs.

Patients' needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned.

One patient told us: 'Healthcare is sound, you can't fault them.'

Patients told us they had no issues accessing appointments and they told us they were happy with the care provided.

Patients told us they had no complaints about the service provided and that healthcare had a good reputation across the prison. One patient told us: 'I can't fault it, at all.'

We saw that doors to consulting rooms were kept shut when patients received treatment to ensure their privacy. We found that patients had access to a good range of information that informed them of what health care service were available at HMP Kirkham.

We found that patients' needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.

We found that patients were cared for by staff who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard.

This inspection was carried out as part of a pilot project of community based services. For this pilot we tested different ways of seeking feedback and information about the service, from the provider and people who use the service.

Although we did not speak to any patients during this inspection, patients and staff were made aware of the inspection and given opportunity to comment and contact us through details contained in a poster which was displayed on the day of our visit.

There were established and effective systems in place to monitor the quality, effectiveness and safety of the service. We saw examples of how these systems had been implemented to monitor and improve the performance of the trust.