This is the title of an ITV documentary to be broadcast on Thursday 13/12/12. The fastest growing section of the prison population is the over 60’s. Either due to longer prison sentences or tougher action on sentencing older offenders prisons are struggling to deal with a group of people that the system was not designed for.
Concerns over the care of elderly and disable prisoners however is not new a number of reports over the last two years such as the survey by Prison Governors Association (PGA) have highlighted growing concerns over social care in prisons. Prisons are experiencing a growth in pensioner prisoners and in the absence of support from local authorities and Primary care trusts they are using other prisoners to provide personal care.
In the USA where life means life the problem of elderly prisoners has been around for a long time but it is a relatively new feature of British prisons. The over 60’s are the fastest growing section of the prison population. Kingston prison in Portsmouth is the first in the country to provide a specialist “elderly wing” equipped with stair lifts and other adaptations. Others will undoubtedly follow as the numbers grow and the inappropriateness of mixing frail elderly and disabled people in with the general prison population is recognised.
The numbers and percentages of prisoners with a disability varies the prison data records record a figure of 5% around 4,500 prisoners but a ministry of Justice survey earlier supports inspection finding of 19% or over 16000. Clearly not all these prisoners are profoundly disabled and not every prisoner over the age of sixty is physically frail and in need of care but whether its 5% or 19% it is a growing problem.
Who should care for frail and disabled elderly prisoners? Prison officers say it is not part of their job to wash, dress, feed and toilet prisoners. Prison governors think the NHS should provide nursing auxiliaries as the health of prisoners is the responsibility of the NHS. Health service managers think local authority social services should provide care arguing that if they were in their own home or sheltered housing they would .But they are not so they won’t. So who does? Well other prisoners do which is neither satisfactory nor appropriate.
Budget cuts across the public sector are likely to entrench views about whose responsibility it is to fund the care costs of elderly and disabled prisoners. In the mean time more elderly and disabled people are appearing before the courts. It is not clear whether this is because older people are committing more offences or whether the police and courts have adopted a harsher attitude towards older people breaking the law.
Whatever the reasons for more elderly people finding themselves before the courts the growth in the number of elderly and disabled people in prison presents a challenge to the NHS, the Prison Service and Social Services. A challenge which despite all the talk of collaboration and cooperation remains just that talk.
Blair McPherson is author of Equipping managers for an uncertain future published by Russell House www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
