• Prison healthcare

Archived: HMP Bedford

HMP Bedford, St Loyes Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 1HG 0300 123 0808

Provided and run by:
South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Important: This service was previously managed by a different provider - see old profile

All Inspections

3, 4 February 2014

During a routine inspection

We co-ordinated our inspection of services provided by South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust with the H.M.Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP). South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust provided primary health care services and mental health care. The substance misuse treatment service was contracted to another provider. Our inspection visit was announced and was carried out over two days and we focussed on the primary healthcare service.

We spoke with thirteen people who used the service who told us they were happy with the service they received. One person said; "the nurses go the extra mile." Another person said, "Most of the nurses are good, it is okay".' Another said; "the healthcare staff are brilliant." People said healthcare staff worked hard to make sure their care needs were met and we were told that most staff were attentive, helpful and appeared to be interested in making sure people's healthcare needs were met.

We found people's privacy and dignity were not respected.

We saw a health care centre with inpatient facilities was available. The centre was separate to the residential facilities. It provided health promotion clinics and a GP surgery.

We spoke with eight nursing staff who worked at the prison. They told us they enjoyed their work. They said they felt supported by their line manager to carry out their role. We looked at the records for the service, including quality assurance audits, surveys, staff records, policies and training documents and found them to be up-to-date.

We found there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs in a safe and timely way.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.