Includes failures in prison arrangements to provide, allocate, maintain or cover psychological assessment and support for prisoners, including absent psychologist resource, prolonged waiting lists, unclear or nominal allocation, lack of continuing input and inadequate locum or other cover where these directly affect prisoner access to psychological support.
What is not included
Excludes general mental-health service capacity or psychiatric treatment failures where prison psychological support is not the material unsafe condition.
Excludes forensic-psychologist input to MAPPA or offender-release decisions when the concern is specialist risk-report input rather than psychological support for prisoners in custody.
Excludes generic prison staffing, communication, training or governance deficiencies unless they directly leave prisoners without required psychological support.
Excludes clinical care provided after adequate psychological support has been arranged, and exclude psychological support for non-prisoners unless the assertion explicitly concerns the same prison psychological-support arrangement.
Trends
Reports over time
Reports mentioning this concern, over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust2
HM Prison and Probation Service2
Ministry of Justice2
Probation Service2
Manchester Prison1
NHS England1
Practice Plus Group1
Wymott Prison1
Executive agency2
Ministerial department2
NHS trust2
Prison or young offender institution2
Sub-organisation2
Executive non-departmental public body1
Independent healthcare provider1
Reports and published responses 5 reports
See individual reports that have raised this concern, and the actions taken in response
Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen
Concerns raised2
Delays of many months in access to psychologist support
Lack of psychologist resource for prisoners
Linked response
Practice Plus Group
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.5
Practice Plus Group
Recruit and establish the new Principal, Clinical Assistant and Assistant Psychologist roles to increase psychology capacity at HMP Garth.
Practice Plus Group
Seek interim agency locum cover for the Principal Psychologist vacancy.
Practice Plus Group
Provide routine psychological support and safety-netting through Health and Wellbeing Practitioners and Nurse Associates, with monitoring and escalation to mental health nurses.
Practice Plus Group
Stop adding patients to the psychology waiting list while psychologist recruitment is pending and allocate new referrals interim health and wellbeing support.
Practice Plus Group
Provide urgent psychological support through local and regional multidisciplinary case conferences and the established regional psychology workforce.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
Practice Plus Group
Interim routine and urgent psychology support, including monitoring, escalation and regional provision, is in place while psychologist posts are filled.
Existing arrangements considered sufficientThe respondent said that existing arrangements were sufficient, so no further action was needed.
Practice Plus Group
Locum psychologist cover cannot currently be provided because suitable psychologists are unavailable in the employment market.
Unable to actThe respondent said that a constraint prevented them from taking the relevant action.
Liverpool and the Wirral
Concerns raised1
Failure to provide support to prisoners facing permanent separation from their spouses
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
No linked response statements
No respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Manchester North
Concerns raised2
Failure to provide further psychological input while awaiting transfer
Failure to provide an allocated SIU-based psychologist and continuing psychological input
This report raised 10 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
HM Prison and Probation Service
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
HM Prison and Probation Service
The Specialist Intervention Unit’s high staffing and staff support were considered sufficient for readjustment, without requiring formal psychological interventions.
Existing arrangements considered sufficientThe respondent said that existing arrangements were sufficient, so no further action was needed.
West Yorkshire Eastern
Concerns raised1
Unavailability of appropriate psychological interventions in prison
This report raised 7 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
No linked response statements
No respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Manchester City
Concerns raised1
Lack of psychological therapy identification and treatment for prisoners with personality disorders or related traits
This report raised 6 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
No linked response statements
No respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.