Probation Healthcare Commissioning Toolkit

What are we doing?

Many people in contact with probation will experience more than one health problem at any given time and often experience other negative social determinants of health such as unemployment and homelessness. Very little research has been done on this population and their voice is seldom heard by those commissioning healthcare or those providing oversight and scrutiny of healthcare services.

 

Why is it important?

Despite the high level and complexity of health needs in this group, people in contact with probation face both system-level and personal-level barriers to accessing healthcare. Many people in contact with probation are not registered with a GP, and/or only access healthcare during crises (Revolving Doors Agency 2013). Sometimes services simply do not exist to meet their needs, and sometimes services are difficult to access due to things like their location, opening hours, restrictive referral criteria and poorly understood access routes. Moreover, the health needs of people in contact with probation and how best to structure service provision to make healthcare accessible to and appropriate for this group are not always considered by healthcare commissioners.

 

How are we different?

We hope that this toolkit will assist those working in health and criminal justice environments in England, and in particular commissioners to improve the way in which healthcare is provided for people in contact with probation.

Academic Staff
Dr Coral Sirdifield	Research Fellow, University of Lincoln
Dr Rebecca Marples	Research Assistant, University of Lincoln
Prof Charlie Brooker	Honorary Professor for Health and Justice, Royal Holloway, University of London
Prof David Denney	Professor of Social and Public Policy, Royal Holloway, University of London
Prof Niro Siriwardena	Professor of Primary & Pre-Hospital Health Care
Mr Dean Maxwell-Harrison	Service User Consultant
Mr Sophie Strachan	Service User Consultant
Mr Tony Connell	Probation Representative