North's prison officers' retraining problems highlighted
Some prison officers in the North have struggled to obtain training in dealing with suicidal inmates, an inspection report said today.
Difficulties in releasing staff to learn new skills left qualifications out of date, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) added.
However specialist wardens for individuals at risk have received a wide variety of education including motivational interviewing and time in an English prison.
Earlier this week jail managers were criticised in an independent report after Colin Bell, 34, hanged himself while on suicide watch at Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, in August last year.
Today’s CJINI dossier warned: “Residential staff particularly struggled to access training in areas of development such as pro-social modelling or suicide intervention and even mandatory training in control and restraint on occasions.
“Although systems were in place for ensuring that these mandatory training needs were met, difficulties in releasing staff to attend training led to staff qualifications in these areas being out of date.”
Inspectors did find good practice and said training was delivered to a high standard.
“However, the management structure of the training areas led to duplication and difficulties in maintaining a coherent positive experience for staff,” the inspection found.
Most staff training tended to be mandatory courses, usually the same year-on-year to fulfil health and safety requirements.
Tony Pearson headed a separate independent panel considering the future of the prison service which published 38 recommendations yesterday.
He acknowledged the dangerous work which prison officers had carried out during the years of the conflict but said it was time to shift from the heavy emphasis on security.
Bell, serving life for murder, was able to kill himself despite a history of disturbed behaviour.
He was on suicide watch and was to be monitored every 15 minutes yet his body was only discovered 40 minutes after his death.
Video camera footage showed some staff lying in bed watching television while they were supposed to be on duty.
The report (Prison Service Staff Training and Development) published today by CJINI assessed the quality, uptake and outcomes of training and development for hands-on staff and managers within the Prison Service.
It made 13 recommendations for improvement.
Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice Dr Michael Maguire said: “The inspection found that historically, the bulk of training provided for prison officers within the NIPS was security-focused and driven by the need to update basic skills such as control and restraint of prisoners.
“Over recent years the role of the prison officer within a modern prison service has and continues to undergo significant change.
“Staff are being asked to move away from the security-focused role to one where they engage proactively with prisoners to challenge inappropriate behaviour, and assist in their rehabilitation.”
He said following the appointment of the current director general Robin Masefield in 2004, and a new head of training and development at the Prison Service college in 2006, training had taken some steps forward.
“However, much remained to be done as security-focused mandatory and refresher training accounted for the majority of training undertaken during 2007-08, rather than developmental staff training designed to equip prison officers with the skills to undertake a more rehabilitative role with prisoners,” he added.
