Prisoners' health burden

The Government came under renewed pressure last night over its refusal to transfer the medical care of prisoners to the National Health Service.

In a draft of a discussion paper, leaked to Channel 4 News in advance of official publication on Friday, Sir David Ramsbotham, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, concludes that "the NHS should assume responsibility for the delivery of all healthcare, by the introduction of a purchaser/ provider relationship that acknowledges the full and peculiar needs of the Prison Service." Patricia Wynn Davies