'Appalling' conditions at women's jail slammed

EXTRA staff are being moved into Eastwood Park women’s prison after a damning inspection report found some cells were “appalling and dilapidated”, with walls splattered with blood.

Inspectors said acute staff shortages at the jail near Falfield meant prisoners were spending “far too little time” out of their cells.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor, who led the inspection team, said: "No prisoner should be held in such conditions, let alone women who were acutely unwell and in great distress."

He said one experienced inspector described the treatment and conditions of women in one houseblock as the worst that he had ever seen.

Eastwood Park houses 348 adult female prisoners and young offenders, ranging from women on remand awaiting trial to inmates serving indeterminate or life sentences.

The 11-day unannounced inspection in October last year was carried out by a team of 21 inspectors, including educational, health and social care experts.

In a 70 page report, published in February, Mr Taylor listed 20 concerns, including rating the prison at the lowest possible grade for safety.

He said: "There had been four self-inflicted deaths since our last inspection and rates of self-harm were very high and increasing. Many women told us they did not feel well cared for.

"The number of times force had been used against women had increased significantly, and we were not confident it was always used as a last resort.

"Leaders had been too slow to reintroduce support to help women maintain relationships with their children, families and significant others."

He highlighted Houseblock Four, which contained cells that were "appalling, dilapidated and covered in graffiti".

He said he was also "deeply concerned" for the welfare of staff working in a challenging environment.

The previous inspection in 2019 made 10 recommendations about key concerns.

Since then only three had been achieved, two had been partially achieved and five had not been achieved.

A Prison Service spokesperson said the report was “deeply concerning”.

The spokesperson said: “We are already addressing the serious issues it raises.

“We are providing additional staffing, creating a new taskforce dedicated to improving the safety of women at the prison and are performing maintenance work of the areas mentioned by the Inspectorate.”

Extra staffing would include moving staff from other local prisons, the spokesperson said.

The taskforce had already recruited psychologists to assist delivery of enhanced support to women with the most complex needs, funded better support women in the early days of custody, and piloted a new model of staff training.