Geof Dart, Offender Health and Social Care

2010 - An Overview of the Project's Progression

Since the commencement of the project in March 2009 the project has developed in a variety of ways. There are 15 prisons within the Yorkshire and Humber region. All are now registered training centres accredited to deliver the Level 2 UHI course through the RSPH. There are to date over 40 personnel working within the region's prisons, having attended the 'Train the Trainer' course. This has been made possible by Offender Health and Social Care, part of Yorkshire & Humber Improvement Partnership, having now hosted two ‘Train the Trainer’ courses.

The region has a selection of different category of prisons. At present HMP Everthorpe, which is the pilot for the project, has delivered one course in 2009; the successful candidates have delivered the Health Trainer Champion (HTC) service to offenders since September 2009. They have recently completed a second course and the learners await accreditation.

HMP Moorlands, which is a category D open prison, has one Health Trainer Champion who, after being taught the Level 2 UHI, has gone on to single handily develop the HTC course in that establishment. Other prisons are now beginning to implement the delivery of the course, including HMP Doncaster and HMP Full Sutton, which will be one of the first high security prisons nationally to deliver this. In addition, it is planned that HMP NewHall and HMP Askham Grange, both female prisons, will work in partnership in the development of this project.

It was agreed that we would use the prison Physical Education Officers (PEOs) to deliver the UHI course to the learners. This has proved very positive for the project as the PEOs already have the skills and knowledge to deliver health related subjects. The UHI course is proving to be a great stepping stone for offenders wishing to engage more in the understanding of health and how to improve it. The prison system has a high percentage of offenders with low level basic skills, but the way the course is structured has made it inclusive to all.

As the roles and responsibilities of different prisons vary, we are aiming to engage a structured approach to the development of the project. To this end, we are looking to deliver the UHI course in the earlier part of an offender's sentence. This will enable the offender to engage in further development throughout his sentence, ultimately providing a broad overview of health and health improvement. 
 

Geof's 2009 Case Study

The Offender Health and Social Care department comes under the Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership. I am the Project Manager for the project Health Trainers in the Criminal Justice System. This was implemented by the recommendations of the Darzi report on Healthy Ambitions