Mental health crisis behind bars

Women in acute mental distress are continuing to be imprisoned as prisons treated as default psychiatric wards

Despite the Independent Monitoring Board’s (IMB) 2023 thematic report warning that women in acute mental distress were being imprisoned due to a chronic shortage of secure psychiatric hospital beds, two years later the IMB’s 2024–25 annual report for HMP/YOI Bronzefield (published 10 December 2025) highlights that these serious concerns remain largely unresolved.

Overstretched in-prison healthcare facilities, ill-equipped to provide specialist treatment and care to very vulnerable and mentally unwell women, are being used as makeshift mental health wards, leaving them without the specialist care they need.

IMB members, appointed by ministers to carry out independent monitoring of prisons, are trained volunteers with unrestricted access to the prison to which they are appointed. They report on fairness and humanity of treatment, shining a light on what happens behind closed doors.

HMP/YOI Bronzefield in Surrey is the only purpose-built private prison solely for women in the UK, and is the largest female prison in Europe. This maximum security prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services with a current capacity of 527, holding a complex mix of prisoners: remand, sentenced and high profile ‘restricted status’ (Category A) offenders.

The 2024–2025 IMB annual report for HMP/YOI Bronzefield paints a stark picture:

• 22 women were sent to Bronzefield prison as a ‘place of safety’ under the Mental Health Act, up from 19 the previous year. The 18-bed in-patient healthcare unit is consistently at full capacity accommodating women experiencing severe mental illness and displaying complex behaviour.
• A shortage of secure psychiatric hospital beds, along with disputes among NHS health trusts, is delaying the transfer of women from HMP/YOI Bronzefield to hospital. Staff are under mounting pressure but continue to provide compassionate care under extremely challenging conditions. The delays affect the wider prison population, with some women reporting feeling unsafe or vulnerable when others experience mental health crises.
• Only 45% of transfers to hospital met the statutory 28-day target, with some women waiting over 100 days; the longest wait recorded was 157 days. 

“These are not isolated incidents. This is an ongoing national issue,” said Ben Moseley, IMB HMP/YOI Bronzefield Chair. “Prison is not treatment. These women need care, not custody.” 

The IMB remains concerned that efforts to resolve this problem show little discernible effect.

“Without urgent reform vulnerable women will continue to suffer. The crisis in care puts their dignity, health, and safety at risk” said Moseley.

Prison staff continue to show extraordinary commitment and dedication under extremely challenging conditions. Yet HMP/YOI Bronzefield is not equipped and was never intended to provide the specialist mental healthcare to the extent that these women need. The Board is deeply concerned that the prison continues to be used as a last resort for acutely mentally unwell women, a setting that can worsen their conditions and put their dignity, health, and safety at risk.