ABSTRACT
The health care staff working within prisons were employed directly by the prison service and there was little in the way of governance or guidance. There was a confusing myriad of different providers. There were some aspects in which the patients themselves were similar to those found in general mental health services. However, there were many clear differences: these women had more physical health problems and addictions were common place. The primary task of any prison is to keep the inhabitants securely under lock and key to protect the general public. Those individual incarcerated must be kept safely and decently and work must be done towards their rehabilitation when they rejoin society. Prisoners can be moved around the country and across establishments at the will of the prison service. These decisions may be made according to capacity issues, behaviour management or the availability of training programmes.
