Perceptions of the effectiveness of health care for probationers

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the views of commissioners, providers and criminal justice staff on how effective current health-care provision is at meeting the health needs of people on probation. Understanding perceptions of what constitutes effective provision, where barriers are encountered and where improvements could be made is an important step towards improving access to care for this hard-to-reach group. Design/methodology/approach The research was part of a wider study. This paper focusses on findings from case studies conducted via semi-structured telephone interviews with 24 stakeholders in a purposive sample from six geographical areas of England. Interviews were conducted by researchers from a variety of backgrounds and an individual with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Participants provided examples of effective health-care provision, which largely involved multi-agency partnership working. It was apparent that there are many barriers to providing appropriate health-care provision to people on probation, which are underpinned by the complexity of this population’s health-care needs, the complexity of the health-care landscape and problematic commissioning processes. Practical implications Improvements are needed to provide appropriate and accessible health care that meets the needs of people on probation, thereby reducing health inequalities. These include shared targets, improved funding, clearer pathways into care and giving probation a voice in commissioning. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of commissioner, provider and criminal justice staffs’ views on the effectiveness of current health-care provision at meeting the health needs of people on probation.

Improving healthcare in adult probation services: Learning from Youth Offending Teams

“…Often, poor school performance can be linked back to unrecognised learning disabilities. Many of these features of ill-health mirror those found in older adults under probation supervision (Brooker et al, 2012;Sirdifield et al, 2020a;Brooker et al, 2020). Hence there has often been an exhortation in the literature to intervene early in young peoples' lives with a focus on work with the family (see the Bradley Report, 2005, pages 29-32).…”

“…The CMH (2010) report stated that young people can still encounter problems with accessing specialist health support, and there is a need for commissioners to address issues with service design to ensure that services are accessible to young people in contact with the youth justice system, and are able to address their needs Similarly, whilst adults under probation supervision are theoretically able to access ‘mainstream’ provision like other members of the community, research demonstrates that there are multiple barriers to them being able to do so, including the fact that often services are not able to address the complex range of health needs that many individuals in this population experience (Revolving Doors Agency, 2017; Sirdifield et al, 2019a, 2020b). It is our strong belief that a clinical commissioning network project should be established for adult probation by NHS England in conjunction with CCGs and shadow newly formed Integrated Care Systems.…”

“…Summary of differences between health provision/commissioning in YOTs and adult probation. fact that often services are not able to address the complex range of health needs that many individuals in this population experience (Revolving Doors Agency, 2017;Sirdifield et al, 2019aSirdifield et al, , 2020b. It is our strong belief that a clinical commissioning network project should be established for adult probation by NHS England in conjunction with CCGs and shadow newly formed Integrated Care Systems.…”