\n The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) is calling for a nurse or paramedic to be on duty from 7pm to 7am after finding that around a third of prisoners at the category C sex offender jail on Portland are now over 60 and many have complex health needs.\n<\/p>\n
\n In its annual report the board said the lack of overnight clinical staff means prison officers with no medical training are often left to manage serious health concerns.\n<\/p>\n
\n When problems arise at night or over the weekend, staff frequently have to call out paramedics, even though many of those call-outs do not result in a hospital admission. The board believes on-site clinical cover would improve care for prisoners and ease pressure on local ambulance services.\n<\/p>\n
\n The report reveals that prison officers spent more than 20,000 hours on bed watch duties in the last 14 months, escorting and guarding prisoners in hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n The IMB said these external duties come at the expense of \u201cother essential activities such as key work\u201d inside the prison, and argues that 24-hour clinical care could help cut the number and length of hospital stays.\n<\/p>\n
\n It also highlights repeated failures of clothes dryers on Dorset wing, which caused \u201cconsiderable nuisance\u201d to the elderly men living there.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite the concerns, the IMB said The Verne \u201ccontinues to offer a safe environment\u201d for those held there. It singles out the social care unit on Dorset wing for praise, saying it provides \u201cexcellent care\u201d for frail, elderly and disabled prisoners, including men with dementia and those receiving end-of-life care.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a joint statement, the IMB\u2019s co-chairs said: \u201cGiven the proportion of The Verne\u2019s population over the age of 60, an increasing number have complex healthcare needs.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We recognise that Oxleas (the prison\u2019s healthcare provider) supplies excellent healthcare on weekdays, but when a problem occurs at night or over the weekend this must be addressed, in the first instance, by prison officers with no clinical training.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n They add that 24-hour clinical care would \u201ccomplement\u201d the existing social care suite, which has \u201coffered excellent care, especially to prisoners with dementia and terminal illness\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said that healthcare provision is the responsibility of the NHS and that an Independent Sentencing Review recommended that a national strategy for older prisoners be produced.\n<\/p>\n
\n It has accepted this recommendation and is aiming to publish this strategy later this year, recognising a growing number of older prisoners can cause challenges with some complex health and social care needs.\n<\/p>\n
\n A MoJ spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing a safe environment for all prisoners, including those who are older.\n<\/p>\n
\n “That is why we are publishing a national strategy on older prisoners, following the Sentencing Review’s recommendation.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We are also delivering the biggest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era which includes more cells adapted to the needs of those with mobility issues and physical disabilities.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The board also warns about the potential impact of changes to immigration rules on staffing.\n<\/p>\n
\n It said the end of an exemption from revised visa regulations at the end of 2026 could hit the recruitment and retention of overseas prison officers, and is calling for ministers to consider the risks to establishments like The Verne.\n<\/p>\n
\n Net migration has already fallen by more than two-thirds under the current government, and ministers said numbers must fall further as they create a more controlled and fair system.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, they insist public safety comes first and that prisons must have enough experienced staff to run safely amid what they describe as a capacity crisis.\n<\/p>\n
\n A specific, time-limited exemption to tougher visa rules has therefore been granted for prison officers already in the UK, applying only to in-country applicants and not new overseas recruits.\n<\/p>\n
\n The lower skill and salary thresholds will remain until December 31, with a reduced salary threshold in place to the end of 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) is calling for a nurse or paramedic to be on duty from 7pm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-496206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}