Report says prison is the 'worst' for violence

HMP Eastwood Park has the worst rate of violence against staff of any women's prison in the country, a new report has found.

- ANGUS MCINTYRE

Officials visited the prison in South Gloucestershire for a surprise inspection in June and July, with attacks on staff raised as one area of concern.

The report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) also found the rate of self-harm among prisoners was "extremely high", and that women with severe mental health issues were being kept in prison rather than being sent to secure hospitals.

Nonetheless, the report said conditions in the Wotton-under-Edge prison had improved since a previous inspection in 2022. In particular, inspectors said the situation in house block 4, which a previous official said was one of the worst units he'd ever seen, was considerably better than three years ago.

"Levels of self-harm, violence and use of force were still some of the highest in the women's estate," the report said. "The rate of assaults against staff were the highest of all women's prisons and often occurred during restraints when staff used force to prevent self-harm. However, there were now much better standards of care than we found at our 2022 inspection or at our recent thematic visit."