Community reintegration of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities from prison
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Community reintegration of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities from prison

Felicity Watkin Assistant psychologist, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
Gordon Leonard Specialist forensic lead, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England

Since the Bradley Review in 2009 initiatives have been developed to support individuals with mental health problems and learning disabilities in the criminal justice system. Despite these initiatives, it was identified that some individuals were being released from local prisons without adequate support. The custodial partnership group (CPG) evolved as a mechanism to identify potential service users six months before their release from prison, prompting an NHS trust in the north west of England to become involved in their care.

A focus group was held after a scheduled CPG meeting. A total of five members representing different services took part in the focus group: a local prison service, criminal justice and liaison team and community-based forensic support service. A thematic analysis was conducted to review the qualitative data collected from the focus group. The evaluation found that the CPG was viewed positively by those in attendance and seen as a valuable and innovative forum to continue the care of service users with a forensic pathway.

Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2019.e2009

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

gordon.leonard@cwp.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Watkin F, Leonard G (2019) Community reintegration of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities from prison. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2019.e2009

Published online: 05 September 2019

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