One person under supervision in the community after leaving prison is dying every 14 hours, our new analysis of government figures has found.
Ministry of Justice data published in October shows that deaths among individuals in this group rose to 633 nationally in 2025/26, from 620 in the previous year.
In addition, the data shows that 187 of the total of 633 deaths were drug-related – equating to one person losing their life every two days to a drugs-related cause. This compares to a figure of 178 in the 2024/2025 data.
Our recent report, ‘Reducing deaths among prison leavers’, found that drug-related deaths are the largest cause of preventable deaths among prison leavers.  They account for 40% of deaths within the year after release – around three people every week.
The report estimated that up to one in seven drug-related deaths could be avoided through better access to treatment and support after release. We are recommending that:
- Everyone leaving prison with an opioid misuse problem should be offered opioid substitution therapy (OST) on the day of release.
- The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care should establish a consistent national standard for providing naloxone to people leaving custody.
- The Department of Health and Social Care should work with the Prison and Probation Service to ensure everyone leaving prison is registered with a GP and can access immediate healthcare.
- The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government should develop a joint plan to halve the proportion of prison leavers experiencing homelessness during this Parliament, with the longer-term ambition of ending prison leaver homelessness.
We are supporting an amendment to the Health Bill currently going through Parliament, which would require Integrated Care Boards to take steps to improve health provision for people in or leaving prison, as responsibility for this moves away from NHS England.
The amendment led by Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of the House of Lords Home Affairs and Justice Committee would require Integrated Care Boards to commission dedicated services for people leaving prison including substance misuse and mental health, where gaps between prison and community support can lead to relapse or reoffending.
Enver Solomon Chief Executive of Nacro, said:
“These figures represent avoidable tragedies occurring on our streets every single week. When individuals leave custody without coordinated healthcare, rehabilitation and addiction support or secure housing, they are being let down by the system and set up to fail.
“If we do not guarantee that proper treatment and support is in place from day one on release from prison then lives will continue to be needlessly and tragically lost.”
Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of the House of Lords Home Affairs and Justice Committee, added:
“When someone leaves prison, they should have a chance to turn their life around. Instead, this data shows that too many of their lives end soon after they return to the community. This is an avoidable tragedy.
“For years, everyone from the CQC to the Chief Medical Officer has highlighted that more needs to be done to improve healthcare for people in, or leaving, prison. As the Government abolishes NHS England, it is more important than ever that these services are safeguarded and improved.
“By giving people in prison, or on probation, consistent healthcare support – whether that is to address mental health, addiction, or long-term conditions – we can help them turn their lives around. Ministers must act over the coming months to ensure this group do not fall between the cracks of their reorganisation of the health system.”
For more information contact Nacro Press Office via media@nacro.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
- Lord Foster of Bath has tabled Amendment 90 to the Health Bill. This amendment would require ICBs to have particular regard to improving the provision of healthcare for people in prison, serving community sentences, or under post-release supervision. It would also require that specialist services for these groups be commissioned where needed, and that continuity of care be protected where possible as people move in and out of custody.
- Responsibility for commissioning prison healthcare currently sits with NHS England. The Health Bill will abolish NHS England, and move most responsibilities to local Integrated Care Boards. This means that prison healthcare will be commissioned by local ICBs, who also oversee most community healthcare provision.
- Data Methodology:
Data for 2025/26 is taken from the MoJ dataset ‘Deaths of Offenders in the Community, Annual Update to March 2026’. Data for 2024/25 is taken from the previous year’s data (Deaths of Offenders in the Community, Annual Update to March 2025). This is because data continues to change post-publication as more deaths are registered. The latest data shows roughly a 10% increase in recorded deaths for the 2024/25 year between the publication of the two datasets. As such, we feel it is more appropriate to compare the data published in October 2026 with the data published in October 2025, meaning that late registered deaths are not included in either dataset.
