Where life means life in the USA the problem of elderly prisoners has been around for a long time but it is a relatively new feature of British prisons. The over 60’s are the fastest growing section of the prison population. Kingston prison in Portsmouth is the first in the country to provide a specialist “elderly wing” equipped with stair lifts and other adaptations. Others will undoubtedly follow as the numbers grow and the inappropriateness of mixing frail elderly people in with the general prison population is recognised.
There are currently approximately 2,500 older elderly prisoners in British prisons. Whilst this represents only 3 % of the total prison population it is increasing seen as a growing problem by Governors. Who should care for frail and disabled elderly prisoners? Prison officers say it is not part of their job to wash, dress, feed and toilet prisoners. Prison governors think the NHS should provide nursing auxiliaries as the health of prisoners is the responsibility of the NHS. Health service managers think local authority social services should provide care arguing that if they were in their own home or sheltered housing they would .But they are not so they won’t. So who does? Well other prisoners do which is neither satisfactory nor appropriate.
Budget cuts across the public sector are likely to entrench views about whose responsibility it is to fund the care costs of elderly prisoners. In the mean time more elderly people are appearing before the courts. It is not clear whether this is because older people are committing more offences or whether the police and courts have adopted a harsher attitude towards older people breaking the law. What has become apparent is that this trend is not restricted to this country. Both Holland and France have reported a growth in the number of older criminals.
Research in Holland found that a high proportion of those over sixty appearing before the courts had undiagnosed dementia. The implication being that their antisocial and disinhibited behaviour was not a disregard for the law but a result of their illness
Whatever the reasons for more elderly people finding themselves before the courts and the growth in the number of elderly people in prison the situation presents a challenge which the NHS, the Prison Service and social service increasingly can’t ignore.
Blair McPherson is author of People management in a harsh financial climate and Equipping managers for an uncertain future both published by www.russellhouse.co.uk as part of the series Developing managers on a tight budget.