Achieving quality end-of-life care within the prison population: new guidance
National end of life care programme update
Published:
2012
Vol:
2
No:
1
First published in this online journal
Declaration of interests:
none
Introduction
Over 85,000 people are currently being held in prisons across England and Wales (Ministry of Justice, 2011; Berman, 2012), and this figure is expected to rise to nearly approximately 95,000 by 2017 (Ministry of Justice, 2011). The number of older prisoners is therefore expected to increase and predictions indicate that this will lead to more deaths from natural causes in prisons (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2008). The twin requirements of custody and care are recognised within the HM Prison Service with initiatives underway to improve health outcomes for offenders. However, the above double imperative can prove particularly demanding when it comes to delivering end-of-life care (EoLC) in prisons.