HMP Lewes: residents’ experiences of health and care

We held a focus group for residents with additional health and care needs in July 2024 and a survey was available in the library for residents to complete from August to November 2024.

We heard about

• Issues of communication and information sharing: the process of how to request an appointment was not always clear, and residents wanted to be kept better informed about the progress of their request.
• Access to and quality of care: we heard there can be issues in facilitating residents to attend appointments and long waiting times for some services. We also heard that residents were mostly satisfied with the quality of care once they had been seen.
• Support for social care needs and accessibility: residents were not clear on how to request and access social care support, or how to provide feedback on care. We also heard how accessibility created barriers to health and well-being services.
• Wider determinants of health and well-being: other issues of concern raised by residents related to nutrition, limited opportunities for physical and mental activity, and how the building and facilities impacts on well-being.
• Health complaints: we heard concerns about the transparency and efficacy of the complaints process.

Our recommendations

We made 17 recommendations based on the feedback we received, aimed at improving residents’ experience of accessing health and care services.

In summary, these include:

• A more robust system for appointment applications to be acknowledged, and for residents to be made aware of upcoming appointments.
• The training of Health Champions to support the work of the Patient Experience Lead.
• To undertake an accessibility audit for healthcare provision within HMP Lewes.
• Further collaboration between HMP Lewes and the healthcare provider (PPG) to explore solutions to accessibility needs and reduce barriers to attendance.
• Ensure accessible information on adult social care services, including eligibility and assessment processes, and complaints and escalation pathways, are provided to residents.

What we did

We started visiting HMP Lewes in February 2024 to provide Information and Signposting sessions in the prison library. During this time, we spoke to residents who wanted to share their experience of accessing and receiving health and care services, or discuss their concerns relating to accessing appropriate care.

Multiple themes became apparent which we used to develop further engagement to explore residents’ experiences of health and care, in two ways:

1) a short survey aimed at the whole prison population, asking for their recent (since January 2024) experiences of health and care services. We asked whether residents receive information to help them access health and care on arrival; if they can easily access help to complete healthcare applications; if they have always been able to access medication appropriately; how long they have waited for healthcare appointments; for those with existing health issues – if their usual treatments or medications continued when entering HMP Lewes; and experience of the complaints process.

2) a discussion forum for prisoners with disabilities or additional needs, to hear experiences from those most likely to have accessibility and/ or social care needs.

We received 35 responses to our survey and nine residents attended the focus group.

Response from HMP Lewes and Practice Plus Group (PPG)

“We would like to thank Healthwatch and The Advocacy People for the work they do in supporting the patient voices of those residing at HMP Lewes. We view all feedback as an opportunity for us to learn and improve the service we offer and are particularly grateful for the feedback we receive through this independent collaboration which we understand is unique to HMP Lewes. Our focus is in providing safe, quality and timely care for everyone, regardless of their background and am pleased to say that we are already actively addressing some of the issues raised.”

Next Steps

As the public champion for local health and care services, Healthwatch East Sussex will continue to work in partnership with commissioners and providers to monitor the experiences of patients and the public in accessing health and care services locally and explore how ongoing improvements may be delivered.

We will also share this report with East Sussex County Council, NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch England and others to share this insight and encourage its incorporation into future initiatives.

Tell Us Your Experiences 

Please tell us your experiences of local health and care services via our Feedback Centre and let us know how this has been for you.

We want to hear if it has been good, bad or indifferent.

Help and support with Health and Care 

If you need help or support related to health or care, then please contact our Information & Signposting Service via

0333 101 4007 or enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk