Women's social care provision in prison has improved but challenges remain: findings from a national survey in England eight years after the 2014 Care Act.

backgroundAt the end of 2024 over 3,500 women were living in prison in England, many of whom have experienced prior trauma and domestic abuse and are more likely than men in prison to self-harm. Compared to women living in the community, they also have higher levels of social care needs, yet little research has been conducted to explore social care provision for this population.

methodsWe conducted surveys of healthcare managers and governors in eleven women's prisons in England and their corresponding nine local authorities (LAs), to establish how they addressed their responsibilities for women with social care needs eight years on from the 2014 Care Act. Numerical and pre-coded data were analysed in Microsoft Excel using simple descriptive methods (e.g., frequencies, percentages). Descriptive qualitative analysis was used on free-text data.

findingsThe LA survey was completed by 9/9 LA staff; the prison governor survey by 8 staff (representing 10/11 prisons); and the healthcare manager survey by 7/11 staff. Considerable variation was found between establishments in Care Act assessment rates (1% to 36%). Some prisons relied on prison officers or peer supporters who had not received adequate training/supervision to identify social care needs, although all respondents agreed that social care provision had improved since the Care Act. There was less agreement regarding arrangements for transferring assessments between LAs on release. Qualitative analysis provided insight into this and other problems, including identifying women with social care needs; transferring information; gaining access into the prison; and resolving disputes/disagreements between LAs. Several proactive initiatives to improve identification/provision, and promote wellbeing, were described (e.g., regular drop-ins; scoping the use of telecare; linking with external agencies (e.g., neurodiversity and sensory services); an enablement/reablement pathway; and advocacy).

conclusionThis paper is the first to explore social care provision for women in prison in relation to the 2014 Care Act. Although provision has grown and improved since the implementation of the Act, it is patchy and often suboptimal or "gets forgotten". Potential ways forward include standardised, flexible screening processes; gender-specific adaptation of screening/assessment tools; and social care training and supervision for officers and peer supporters.