Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, David Strang, has today published his inspection report of HMP Kilmarnock. This inspection took place in July and follows up the full inspection of HMP Kilmarnock which was conducted in 2011. The main findings of the report are:
- Most prisoners reported that they felt safe, with good relationships between staff and prisoners witnessed.
- Healthcare is provided to a good standard, however there remains a need to improve the medical facilities. There is scope to improve communication and mutual understanding between the prison and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.
- The time prisoners spend on admission in Reception requires to be further reduced.
- During weekdays prisoners were not always afforded one hour in the open air.
- There is a high number of prisoners deemed medically unfit for work, the processes associated with this should be reviewed.
- The ‘email a prisoner service’ encourages family members, especially children to maintain contact with their relation in prison. There were good examples of engagement with families, through family days and support from third sector organisations.
Summary of Progress
HMP Kilmarnock has made good progress in addressing the recommendations from the full inspection report in 2011. We assess that seven of the Recommendations have been achieved and two partially achieved (with one no longer applicable). Of the Action Points, 25 have been achieved, five partially achieved and seven not achieved (with three no longer applicable). All 16 of the Areas of Good Practice are still in place. We have identified an additional six Areas of Good Practice and made 11 further Recommendations.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons will continue to monitor the Areas of Good Practice and new Recommendations from this inspection report.
David Strang, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons says:
“Progress can be seen in relation to many of the recommendations made in the inspection report of 2011. Positive work is on-going with new areas of good practice evident, examples being the reviewing and auditing by senior management of the ACT 2 Care strategy and related documentation, the issuing of standardised pre-release medication referral forms by NHS Ayrshire and Arran and the work of the Offender Outcome Group”.