Everyone has a right to high-quality care and support at the end of their life, including people in prison. In the past 10 years alone, deaths in prison from natural causes have risen by 77%, creating an urgent need for end of life care. However, research shows that this need is not being adequately met.
On this page, you can find out what we are doing to help improve palliative and end of life care for people in prison and what services, commissioners and policymakers can do to improve the care this group receive.
A prison sentence does not include a sentence to poor quality care. However, our report found that high quality palliative and end of life care services are not always available to people in prison.
We analysed reports of investigations into deaths in prisons in England between October 2018 and December 2019 by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. We found examples of:
inappropriate use of restraints on people in prison at end of life
inequivalent care to what would be received in the community
delayed or no consideration of compassionate release for people in prison imminently facing end of life
insufficient bereavement support for prisoners and staff following a death in the prison.
The report also assessed the extent of the work by hospices in this area in 2021, finding that 15% of hospices in England provided support to prisons.
“If hospices are about giving a voice to people who ordinarily don’t have one, this work should sit at the front and centre of what we do. […] Prisoners have the same right to healthcare as everybody else.”
Kate Heaps, Chief Executive of Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice, Dying Behind Bars
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Read now: the Dying Behind Bars report
This report examines the end of life care currently being received by people in English prisons, and shares the challenges facing end of life care providers in prisons.
Since Dying Behind Bars was published, we have been working to raise the profile of the need for better end of life care in prisons and share examples of good practice across the health and justice sector.
We have launched an ECHO network focused on promoting better care and support for people dying in prisons within England and Wales, alongside NHS England and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).
This ECHO network aims to bring professionals from across the criminal justice and health and care sector together to:
learn from and gain access to experts in this field
develop their knowledge and skill in this subject area
compare experiences of end of life care in prisons across England and Wales
listen to best practice examples from people from different professional backgrounds and apply these to their own practice
discuss the issues and successes they face in delivering end of life care in prisons and develop solutions collaboratively, in a safe environment
make multi-disciplinary connections across the health, social care and criminal justice sector and build peer support networks
develop or influence guidance on bereavement support or end of life care in prisons
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Palliative and End of Life Care in Prisons ECHO - sign up
If you'd like to be a part of the Palliative and End of Life Care in Prisons ECHO network, please let us know and register your interest via this short form.
