THE BELMARSH SCHEME - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF THE TRANSFER OF MENTALLYDISORDERED REMAND PRISONERS FROM PRISON TO PSYCHIATRIC UNITS

Background. Contracting in psychiatric services from the NHS into pris ons has been advocated to improve the care of the mentally disordered in custody. The Belmarsh Scheme is such a service. Method. A prospecti ve study investigating the characteristics of a six-month cohort of re mand prisoners requiring transfer to hospital and evaluating the servi ce's effectiveness. Results. Fifty-three (4.3%; 95% CL 3.2% to 5.6%) o f the 1229 new remands required transfer to hospital; all were accepte d. The transfer group contained a higher proportion of black men (51%) than all other remands (30%) (difference 21%; 95% CL 8% to 35%, P = 0 .002). Transfer times were lower than those reported for a neighbourin g prison. Conclusions. The Belmarsh Scheme secured in-patient psychiat ric care rapidly for all those identified as needing it.