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Home Office

Answer

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the female prisoners who committed suicide had previously been identified as at risk through the use of the HM Prison Service form F2052SH in each of the past four years. [142897] Paul Goggins: All of the women who took their own lives in prison from 1 January 1999 up to 8 December 2003 had been on an open F2052SH (self-harm at risk form) at some point during their period of imprisonment. The number of these women who were on an open F2052SH at the times of their deaths is shown in the following table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Calendar year Number of female self- Number of female SIDs on an Proportion of female SIDs on an inflicted deaths (SIDs) 1 open F2052SH at the times of open F2052SH at the times of their deaths their deaths (per cent.) 1999 5 2 40 2000 8 3 38 2001 6 4 67 2002 9 3 33 20032 14 9 64 Total 42 21 50 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 The Prison Service employs the term `self-inflicted death' rather than `suicide'. This includes all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life 2 To 8 December 2003 The general prison population, and the women's estate in particular, contains a very large number of prisoners exhibiting a combination of factors which raise their risk of suicide: these include psychiatric disorders, relationship problems, previous abuse and family background problems; and histories of self- harm, drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness. As women tend to be the primary carers in their families, concerns about child care arrangements and associated issues also come to the fore with imprisonment. Any member of staff who has cause for concern that a prisoner may be at-risk can open an F2052SH and it is mandatory to open an F2052SH following any incident of self-harm. The inherent vulnerability of many women in custody, combined with the high levels of self-harm in the women's estate, results in a very large number of women prisoners presenting themselves as requiring special care, and being made subject to F2052SH procedures. However, staff caring for women prisoners face exceptional difficulties in distinguishing between those women who are intensely vulnerable and those who may be actively suicidal. To address this issue, the F2052SH system is under review. The pilot of a replacement care planning system will begin in January 2004 at five establishments, one of which is the women's prison and YOI Low Newton. The potential replacement for the F2052SH aims to build on the successful aspects of the existing system, yet be more flexible and task teams of specially trained staff to assess the level of risk that at-risk prisoners present. In parallel with the review of the F2052SH, information booklets and posters to improve staff understanding of the issues surrounding self-harm have been widely distributed, and detailed guidance for staff on how to manage and care for prisoners who self-harm, as well as a video discussing self-harm, are under development.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

142897; 416 c17-8W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Women Prisoners Prisons Suicide

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk