Published: 20 Nov 2024
Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has carried out a joint Inspection of Hydebank Wood Women’s Prison with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales (HMI Prisons), the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI).
The prison had maintained and improved its performance, where outcomes for prisoners were assessed as ‘good’ against the four healthy prison tests of Safety, Respect, Purposeful Activity and Preparation for release.
This is the first time this level of performance has been achieved in a Northern Ireland prison. Inspectors attribute the success is due to due to the leadership of a highly effective Hydebank Wood Governor, his excellent senior team, the leaders from the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and Belfast Met as well as staff, partner organisations and women living in Hydebank Wood.
Notable practices are defined as ‘evidence of our expectations being met to deliver particular good outcomes for prisoners and/or particularly original or creative approaches to problem solving.’ These are also areas from which other establishments could learn. The Inspection Team at Hydebank Wood Women’s Prison found 10 examples of notable practice, which included the high percentage of women engaged in purposeful activity and the time out of cell, the work done by the Prisoner Safety and Support Team and by the Women’s Support Officer, the choir and the project with the Lyric Theatre that provided great opportunities for women to come together and be creative.
At both, Hydebank Wood Secure College and Women’s Prison, Inspectors observed that the excellent relationships between prisoners and staff were central to the prison’s success. Prison officers demonstrated a deep understanding of the people in their care and positive partnerships with healthcare, education and training providers ensured tailored support for both women and young men.
Hydebank Wood placed strong emphasis on mental health awareness and neurodiversity, offering lunchtime learning events available for staff. The prison also addressed the risk of isolation among foreign nationals by providing tablets with translation software.
There were opportunities for both, women and young men to progress to residential units with more freedom thanks to the standards of behaviour being good. Prisoners also benefited from substantial breakfasts and mealtimes thanks to the provision of bread, cereal and milk throughout the day on residential wings.
Hydebank Wood was also praised by the Inspection Team for their supportive Chaplaincy team and the strong links with the voluntary and community sector.
Despite the multiple strengths identified in the Inspection Report, Inspectors highlighted six areas of key concern that leaders need to address. This included the work to fully address adult safeguarding concerns and the prison’s response to serious complaints; access to external hospital appointments and social care; better scrutiny around the use of force; delivery of improvements in how available data is used and better co-ordination of education, skills and work with other interventions.
Overall, this Inspection Report was very positive and the Inspection team was pleased to report on a prison that, despite challenges such as an increased population with complex needs, the prison leadership health care and education partners has demonstrated a willingness to learn from the Inspection and address the inspection findings. Inspectors were of the view Hydebank Wood had capacity to continue to improve in the future.
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