NJPN Blog: Mental Health in Prison

Since the Covid lockdown, thousands of prisoners have been confined to their cells all day.

Source: Pact

Pact CEO Andy Keen-Downs was interviewed recently for BBC Radio 4's award-winning current affairs programme, File on 4. Pact is the national Catholic prisons charity, supporting prisoners and their families since 1898.

Reporter Annabel Deas asked about the reality of living with mental ill health in prison, and whether more needs to be done to ensure mental health is taken into consideration when individuals appear in court charged with an offence.

Andy Keen-Downs stressed the unsuitability of prisons for those experiencing severe mental ill health, and the urgent need for courts to consider effective assessment and diversion for those charged with offences to ensure that prison is only used as a last resort. "A prison cell is the worst possible place for you to be if you're ill already," he said; "you will get more ill in prison and you are at risk of losing your life."

His challenging comments formed part of the opening episode in a new series entitled 'Locking up the Sick'. Andy went on to describe prison as 'the worst possible place' for someone who is clinically depressed or who has suffered childhood trauma. "Currently, many, many people with mental health conditions are not properly assessed and end up on remand in busy, often overcrowded, often overwhelmed prisons," he said.

Pact's frontline staff saved a man's life in an inner-city prison in the Midlands earlier this year. The man's sister had been trying in vain to contact the prison to tell them that she had spoken with her brother, who was experiencing severe mental ill health, and she was afraid that he was going to take his own life. She couldn't get through to the prison's Safer Custody line, but someone answered the phone at Pact. The Pact staff member, 'Rachael', acted immediately. Within minutes, a prison officer raced down the prison landing and opened the cell door - to find the man holding a razor blade to his neck and bleeding profusely. Without immediate medical attention he would have died. The quick action of that member of Pact's team saved his life.

You can meet Pact CEO Andy Keen-Downs at one of our Diocesan Roadshows. Pact staff and volunteers who work in the diocese will be there too to talk about the work they do locally to support prisoners and their families. Pact's Faith in Action team will share practical ways parishes and individuals can help.

Feedback from our recent event in Leeds Diocese reported that, "this is such important work and the community has a responsibility to support the dignity of prisoners and their families."

Find out about our roadshows in Nottingham - Saturday 21 May - and Southwark Dioceses here: JustPeople Roadshows: 'I was in prison...' | Prison Advice and Care Trust

Listen to the File on 4 programme on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001748d

Check out our webpages for Parishes and Groups: Prison Advice and Care Trust

Pact is a member of the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN). Its annual conference will be held 22-24 July 2022, taking the theme, 'Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up'. Booking now at: www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/conference/

Theresa Alessandro is Pact's Catholic Community Engagement Manager