Prisoners: Mentally Ill

Anne Milton
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners with mental illnesses have been transferred from prison to hospital (a) six months, (b) one month and (c) a week before their release date in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Ward
The information requested is shown in the table. The number of transferred prisoners includes both restricted and unrestricted patients, and includes prisoners suffering from all the categories of mental disorder defined in the Mental Health Act 1983 before its amendment with effect from 3 November 2008.

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|    |Total number of transfers to hospital involving sentenced prisoners|Number|Percentage|Number|Percentage|Number|Percentage|Number|Percentage|
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|2004|405                                                                |155   |38.3      |102   |25.2      |72    |17.8      |15    |3.7       |
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|2005|414                                                                |181   |43.7      |119   |28.7      |82    |19.8      |7     |1.7       |
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|2006|488                                                                |208   |42.6      |121   |24.8      |77    |15.8      |14    |2.9       |
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|2007|455                                                                |202   |44.4      |116   |25.5      |82    |18.0      |1     |0.2       |
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|2008|508                                                                |206   |40.6      |119   |23.4      |79    |15.6      |2     |0.4       |
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Many of the prisoners who were transferred within one month or one week of their release date were serving short sentences of less than six months. The Secretary of State will only authorise a transfer very close to the end of sentence where he is satisfied on the basis of medical advice that it is justified by the prisoner’s medical condition.