The following table shows the number of transfers of mentally ill prisoners to more appropriate care in hospital under the Mental Health Act:
Number of prisoners 1997 757 1998 737 1999 732 2000 664 2001 670 2002 723 2003 786 2004 891 2005 900 2006 961 2007 926 Source: Ministry of Justice.
In 2007 the Department launched guidelines and conducted 17 pilots across the country to test more efficient protocols for speedier transfer. Since then the guidelines show a 28 per cent. improvement in transfer times and the Department plans to consider how this improvement could be rolled out across all prison sites.