Displaying items by tag: safe custody

A ‘safer custody’ telephone line for families to flag up concerns about a prisoner's physical or mental health was a key recommendation in a review commissioned by the Government, but research shows hotlines were not answered or had not been set up in over one third of jails. Most emergency calls went to an answering machine. Figures for the twelve months to June 2019 revealed 86 self-inflicted deaths, up from 81 in 2018, and 57,968 incidents of self-harm, an increase of 24% on the previous year. Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust (PRT), said the problem is a very long way from being solved. It demands action now, as lives depend on it. The PRT said poor arrangements for families to get in touch with prisons had been identified in inquests into the deaths of prisoners.