We believe that responses to offenders with mental health issues should focus on their care and treatment rather than punishment, where relevant and appropriate.

Sometimes, the only way to access an appropriate level of care and treatment is to progress a case through the criminal justice system – for example, so that a hospital order can be imposed under the Mental Health Act 1983. We believe that when compulsory detention is necessary for the safety of the individual, or to ensure the protection of others, this should usually be in a psychiatric hospital or special unit with the required level of security, and not in prison.

Nacro believes that prison does not provide an appropriate environment for the majority of mentally disordered offenders and, therefore:

• Courts should consider a hospital or community disposal for mentally disordered defendants rather than sending them to prison under sentence or remand.
• Effective systems should be in place to screen all newly received prisoners for any mental health problem.
• Prisoners with serious mental disorders should be assessed and transferred to hospital as speedily as possible.
• Prisons should not become a ‘place of treatment’ as defined by the Mental Health Act, and compulsory treatment should not take place within a prison.