Speaking at yesterday’s Wales Bereavement and Mental Well Being Conference, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood called for improved mental health support for prisoners and prison leavers, too many of whom commit suicide.
The Cardiff Conference, predominantly focussed on bereavement and support for the bereaved, but also delved into other topics such as mental health, suicide awareness and support for prison leavers.
Although Mr Isherwood’s speech focused on prison, mental health and suicide, he also spoke about the importance of mental health support for university students and young people in care, emphasising that “the need to find the underlying causes and to do something to address them” is crucial.
He said:
“During the 12 months to September 2018 there were 325 deaths in prison custody across England and Wales - up 8% from the previous year. 87 of these were self-inflicted deaths.
“The Howard League for Penal Reform Report, “Preventing Prison Suicide”, found that relationships between staff and prisoners are key. Prisoners need to feel supported, cared for and able to confide in and trust staff.
“The Report recommended that change needs to happen across the system to recognise the influence of the prison environment on people’s vulnerability. It found that prisons should be Enabling Environments, striving to create a psychologically informed environment with an emphasis on the quality of relationships.”
He added:
“The importance of wellbeing and support in different environments was also emphasised by last week’s BBC report that the number of students seeking mental health support while studying at University has increased by more than 50% in five years – and which highlighted suicide as an issue there.
“Joining University can be a hugely exciting time, but for many, the transition can be a time of significant stress. The UK Government recently announced plans to deliver a dramatic improvement in the way Universities support the mental health of their students. A University Mental Health Charter will see the development of new standards to promote student and staff mental health and wellbeing, making clear the expectation of the UK Universities Minister that Universities in England will make mental health a priority for their students.”
Mr Isherwood referred to the range of innovative collaborative projects that Wrexham Glyndŵr University have with HMP Berwyn, stating: “In the past few months, one of the communities within the prison was named after the university, in keeping with HMP Berwyn’s ethos to inspire residents to develop themselves educationally and socially whilst in the prison.”
Speaking about support for children in care, he said:
“A Project Leader with Welsh mental health support charity Hafal, Rebecca Frohwein, told my office about her husband, who was a vulnerable young person from local authority care who got involved in the criminal justice system. He hung himself a year and half ago after years of struggling with his mental health - as she says “leaving myself and 3 children to grieve his loss and cope with the trauma of suicide”.
“As she stated, ‘young people in care are at a higher risk of being involved in the criminal justice system due to the events in their lives’ – adding that ‘these young people need extra support both whilst in care and when leaving the system through a Multi-agency approach’.
He added:
“As I said when I hosted a Bevan Foundation and Big Issue Cymru “Prevention and Inclusion” event in the National Assembly in April: ‘Prevention is vital if people and organisations in Wales are going to address the major challenges we face. Sticking plasters are just not enough – we need to find the underlying causes and do something to address them. Prevention means taking practical action to stop problems arising in the first place.
“As I also said ‘We need to fully embrace Co-production, moving beyond rhetoric and consultation to doing things differently in practice, with service professionals, service users and their communities working side by side to provide solutions’.”
ENDS