Historical background

In Partnership with HM Prison Service

During the 1980s there was an increase in the number of suicides in prisons in England and Wales. This led to new instructions to Governors in 1987 and 1989. In February 1990, the Home Secretary asked the then Chief Inspector to conduct a further review. His report Suicide and Self-Harm in Prison Service Establishments was published in December that year. It contained 123 wide-ranging recommendations about general prison conditions.  It also said  that a radical shift of emphasis was needed in relation to suicide in custody.

The report laid the foundations of the strategy Caring for the Suicidal in Custody which was established in partnership with Samaritans and launched in 1994 for England and Wales. The essential feature of the strategy was the move of the care of the suicidal prisoner from the medical model to a multi-disciplinary approach. It was a more humane model where those at risk were to be supported and cared for rather than sent to supervised strip cells and left isolated. A further thematic review was conducted in 1999 and a revised suicide prevention strategy emerged in 2001, building on the original strategy and establishing the Safer Custody approach.

There have been parallel developments of approach in the other Prison Services:

The Scottish Prison Service commissioned Prof. John Gunn to produce an internal report on their Suicide Prevention Strategy. Prof. Gunn delivered this at the Governors' Conference in March 1996. Of the 34 recommendations the third most important was that Samaritans should be implementing Listener Schemes in Scottish prisons where appropriate. Prof. Gunn's report, together with Prof. K. Power's report (1997) Evaluation of the SPS Suicide Prevention Strategy allowed the Scottish Prison Service to revise its strategy. The result was a greater emphasis on a 'care' and 'teamwork' approach. The document was known as ACT (Assessment Ð Context - Teamwork).

Samaritans had a substantial input in to the revised Suicide Prevention Strategy and training programme in Scotland.

The Irish Prison Service produced a report (1999) Report of the National Steering Group on Deaths in Prisons. One of the recommendations of this report was the setting up of a pilot Listener scheme to see if it would work in the Irish context. It also recommended that local Samaritans branches should be consulted and their recommendations applied.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service produced its Policy on Self Harm and Suicide Prevention in 2003. This recommended the establishment of Listener schemes and the building of relationships with local Samaritans branches.

During the time that the original strategy was being produced, prisons and Samaritans branches were being encouraged to work together. Prisoners' care and support for each other had always played a vital role in helping people to cope with being in prison. Following the tragic death of a 15 year old in HMP Swansea in 1991, the prison and the local branch were asked to pilot a scheme that would formalise prisoner involvement in supporting those at risk in custody. Prisoners were selected by staff and Samaritans, trained by Samaritans and provided with weekly, confidential support meetings by Swansea Branch. The original group of prisoners chose the name 'The Listeners'. This first scheme was established in September 1991 and by the time 'Caring for the Suicidal in Custody' was launched by the government in 1994 there were some 45 similar schemes around the UK.

There are now Listener schemes in nearly every prison in England and Wales.

The first pilot Listener scheme in Scotland was launched in 1994 at Saughton Prison in Edinburgh. There are currently Listener schemes in all Scottish prisons except one.

The first Listener scheme was established in the Republic of Ireland in 2003. There are currently four Listener schemes in operation and discussions are ongoing with other establishments. The first Listener scheme was also established in Northern Ireland in 2003 and there are now two Listener schemes in operation.

Samaritans work in prisons today

The relationship between Samaritans and HM Prison Service has developed significantly in the last 18 years and there are only a few establishments without some form of access to Samaritans for prisoners.

Supporting Listeners is a key focus for branches who already have a relationship with a local prison, but all 203 Samaritans branches throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland are able to offer emotional support by telephone to prisoners who call Samaritans national number or even the local branch number. Prisoners' access to telephones has changed a great deal in the last 20 years and specially provided cordless phones can now offer access to Samaritans 24 hours a day.

For a number of reasons, it is not always possible to set up and maintain a Listener scheme in a particular establishment. In these cases, Samaritans volunteers from the local branch's prison support team can visit the prison to offer face to face emotional support.

Prisoners can also write to Samaritans PO Box number 9090 and whilst they are in resettlement prisons may have access to Samaritan branches as visitors during the time spent away from their prison.

Prison staff also use Samaritans support services, particularly after there has been a suicide in their prison.  At these sad times, Samaritans plays a key role in supporting both staff and prisoners.

How the relationship between Samaritans and HM Prison service is maintained

Each branch is strongly encouraged to hold a local Agreement for the Provision of Services (APS) with their local prison. The Prison Service has developed a model APS within which branches can negotiate according to local needs and finance arrangements.  Thus, although each relationship varies depending on circumstances, there is an underlying consistency to the service levels and the way in which the relationship is maintained.

Samaritans' Prison Support Co-ordinator also attends partnership meetings with the Safer Custody and Offender Policy Group (SCOP) to review best practice, consistency and effectiveness of Samaritans prison support.