Staff shortages mean inmates are not being properly rehabilitated at Nottingham Prison and inmates and officers are not safe enough, inspectors say.
The Independent Monitoring Board says five inmates died, and 80 fires and 200 assaults on prison staff were recorded in a year, with many of these problems linked to inadequate numbers of prison officers.
Insufficient staff has lead to “the overwhelming majority of the issues” according to a report by the board, with “resignations, slow recruitment processes and sickness absence” all playing a role in the problems.
Too many prisoners are self-harming because of the knock-on effects, the board warned, saying one incident in January involving the arrival of prisoners from the West Midlands gave particular cause for concern.
The report read: “During the night one of the prisoners who had arrived on the Birmingham bus seriously self-harmed and was admitted to hospital as an emergency. He died later in the month.
“The board was told some time ago that the benchmark staff (number) for reception would be raised because the flow of prisoners had increased by about 30 per cent since the original calculations, but the resources for this were never allocated.”
However, the report also says extra officers were beginning to arrive on wings at the end of Spring this year, which could improve the situation.
The jail in Sherwood is built to house 1,060 inmates and is a ‘category B’ medium security prison.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “We are committed to transforming prisons into places of safety and reform and have announced a major overhaul of the prison system, including 2,500 extra frontline officers.
“HMP Nottingham has begun work to improve access to education and has reopened a number of workshops for prisoners. Staffing levels have also improved significantly since the report, boosting the safety and stability of the prison.
“There remains progress to be made on mental health provision, and the prison will work closely with health colleagues in order to implement the recommendations made in the report.”
