With responsibility for providing healthcare services for the three national prisons in our Board area, recruiting and training staff to work in our prisons is a key priority and there are currently 148 healthcare staff working across the three prison healthcare centres.
Our Communications Team recently worked with BBC Scotland to highlight the range of roles and opportunities within prison healthcare services and share the positive experiences of three local staff.
Watch the short video below video or read the BBC Scotland online article to find out more about the day-to-day work of Eilish McBeth, Chronic Disease Lead Nurse, Jacqueline Smith, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Jon Henshall, Advanced Practice Mental Health Occupational Therapist.
The most recent inspection report on Polmont HMP YOI, which was published on 14th Dec 2023, also highlights the considerable progress made by both NHS Forth Valley’s prison healthcare team since the previous report.
This included significant changes to the operational running of the healthcare team to support the delivery of patient-centred and compassionate care as well as the recruitment of a number of additional specialist healthcare staff, despite national recruitment challenges.
Inspectors noted that patients were fully involved in their healthcare assessments and were able to discuss and review their care on an ongoing basis. Healthcare plans reviewed were also comprehensive with clear goals and outcomes.
Prof Frances Dodd, Executive Nurse Director for NHS Forth Valley, said: “I’m pleased that the hard work and improvements made by our local prison healthcare staff have been acknowledged in this inspection report.
“A lot has been achieved in the last few years however, we recognise that there is still more to do and we will continue to work with our prison service colleagues and other partners to take forward further changes and improvements in response to the report recommendations.”
You can read the full inspection report here and watch a short video which features interviews with the Governor of Polmont HMP YOI, Gerry Michie and prison healthcare services manager Leona Paget.
