Unacceptably high levels of self-harm at HMP Eastwood Park, say independent monitors

In its 2023-24 annual report published on 21 March 2025, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for HMP Eastwood Park raises urgent concerns about the number and severity of self-harm incidents during the reporting year. The Board also highlights the impact this has had on staff availability, and the resulting poor outcomes for prisoners due to restricted regimes.

The Board notes that:

• Incidents of self-harm at Eastwood Park during the reporting year accounted for 38% of all repeated incidents across the entire women’s prison estate, with just seven individuals harming themselves 4,204 times.
  
• Use of force incidents doubled to a concerning total of 1,039 across the year. In some cases staff had no option other than to resort to use of force in order to restrain a number of very complex women attempting to seriously harm themselves. However, some excellent examples of empathy and de-escalation techniques were also observed during pressurised and volatile situations.
  
• Referrals to the mental health team increased. Due to lack of community placements, women requiring transfer to a secure mental health hospital waited an average of 37.5 days, with the longest being over ten weeks, during which time these prisoners were almost always held in segregation.
  
• The management of women self-harming required high numbers of staff on constant supervision and bed watches, diverting them away from the normal running of the establishment and negatively impacting the remaining prison population. The inconsistent regime meant prisoners spent more time locked in their cells, which created a resentful atmosphere.

IMB Eastwood Park Chair, Gill Pyatt MBE, said:

“Despite the complex profile of many of the prisoners at Eastwood Park, and the severity of self-harm incidents, the Board observed the Governor and their senior team endeavouring to keep the prison population safe. However, this was an uphill struggle given the impact on staffing levels of multiple constant supervisions and bed-watches.

The Board hopes the Prison Service and Prisons Minister can review staffing provision across the entire estate in order to alleviate the pressure on staff and the resulting poor regime provision as a matter of urgency.”