Record levels of violence and suicides, drugs triggering fatal heart attacks, and medical appointments being cancelled due to insufficient staffing levels to transport prisoners highlight the need for change in prisons such as HMP High Down, a prisons watchdog has said.

In its annual Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) report, released last week, the regulator shone a light on a “shocking” 34 per cent rise in self-inflicted deaths in the UK’s prisons, 21 per cent rise in total deaths, and six apparent murders – up from four last year.

Surrey Comet:

High Down was one of 22 prisons in which three people died last year – one by suicide, one from natural causes. A verdict has yet to be reached on the third death.

The prison’s 27 complaints in 2015-16 – 13 of which were upheld – was the lowest figure in the country according to the PPO’s analysis.

In the introduction to his fifth annual report as Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE lamented a rise in deaths in custody nationwide, rising levels of violence and disorder, and understaffing in prisons nationwide.

Mr Newcomen CBE added: “While resources and staffing in prisons are undeniably stretched, it is disappointing how often – after invariably accepting my recommendation – prisons struggle to sustain the improvement I call for.

“Improving safety and fairness is less about identifying new learning and more about implementing the learning already available.

“Ensuring real and lasting improvement in safety and fairness needs to be a focus of the new prison reform agenda.”

From March: Father fears overcrowding, poor hygiene, and lack of exercise and rehabilitation in HMP High Down is turning prisoner son into a "nutcase"

From April: Independent prison inspectors discover drug-fuelled violence and rehabilitation programmes hindered by a lack of staffing

From July: Drugs, lack of exercise and understaffing makes High Down 'unacceptably violent and dangerous', says government's chief prison inspector Peter Clarke

The ombudsman’s findings were consistent with concerns raised by HMP High Down’s independent monitoring board (IMB) in its annual report, which was published in April. Drug-fuelled violence and a lack of staffing for rehabilitation schemes had fostered an increasingly “volatile” atmosphere at High Down prison, the IMB had found.

Surrey Comet:

Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s annual report sets out in harrowing detail the extent to which prisons have deteriorated.

“Record levels of violence and deaths by suicide make it plainly clear that changes are needed to make prisons safer – a fact that has been recognised not only by the ombudsman, but also the new Secretary of State for Justice, Elizabeth Truss.

“The problems to be found in overcrowded prisons such as Wandsworth and High Down can be overcome. But it will require imaginative thinking and bold action to stop throwing so many people into these failing institutions, where they are swept away into deeper currents of crime by the boredom, drug abuse and violence behind bars.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.

“The Justice Secretary is determined to make sure our prisons are safe and places of rehabilitation and will set out her plans shortly.”

Have the issues highlighted in this article affected you? Get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk