Over 5 000 healthcare staff are using the system at 136 English prisons and young offender institutions, including three immigration centres where the NHS is responsible for healthcare. The final prison to be connected up was HMP Feltham at the end of March 2011.

The new system, SystmOne Prison, is based on a general practitioner (GP) system and has been developed over many years to meet the particular requirements of healthcare professionals working in prisons. Its use encompasses areas such as: admitting prisoners, transferring prisoners, prescribing and administering medication, clinical templates, clinic administration and security.

SystmOne Prison enables all clinicians to have ready access to up-to-date medical information making it less likely that the physical and mental health needs of prisoners and young offenders will go undetected. Early intervention and preventative care will improve as healthcare staff have round-the-clock access to prisoners' medical history and current conditions at multiple sites within a prison. Medical records will also be immediately and securely transferred from one prison to another, as prisoners are moved, facilitating improved continuity of care. In addition, the system enables staff to spend less time on administrative tasks, freeing up their time for patient care.

Paul Burstow, Care Services Minister, said: "This provides a firm foundation to take offender health forward in a digital age. The ability to access prisoners' medical records when they are needed, from the first moment that they are received into a prison, is crucial to the delivery of effective healthcare."

He added: "This system is a worthwhile investment that will support healthcare professionals working in prisons in their very challenging roles."

Louis Appleby, National Clinical Director for Health in Criminal Justice, said: "For healthcare staff working in this demanding field, using the same kind of technology that's already established in general practice is crucial to improving their ability to provide safe and effective care."

He added: "Prisoners usually have complex and multiple healthcare problems, which are treated by different members of the healthcare team, so the system has a major role to play in supporting team-working and ensuring healthcare professionals are sighted on all aspects of the treatment being provided."

Sir Keith Pearson, Chair, National Advisory Group for Health and Criminal Justice, said: "Effective information sharing is key to tackling the challenging healthcare needs of the offender population, and ensuring they get access to the right treatment, when they need it. This system in prisons sets the bar for ongoing work needed to improve the quality of data, records and information sharing right across the criminal justice system, in direct support of partnership working and the systematic assessment of a person's health needs. Improved continuity of care means that fewer people will fall through the cracks." 

The Prison Health IT programme which has overseen the roll-out of SystmOne Prison is a team effort involving NHS Connecting for Health and the Offender Health team at the Department of Health, Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), the National Offender Management Service, and a local service provider and its software supplier.

Note: Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.

Further information:

• Original news article - Department of Health
• Related ePractice news article - UK: All prisons to be connected to a clinical IT system beginning in spring 2011