A new report by Policy Exchange reveals over a third of spending on mental health services in prison is wasted and calls for a drastic overhaul in treating mental health in prisons, including mandatory training for prison officers.

Mental healthcare in prisons is widely overlooked as being a problem in the justice system, with overcrowding and high costs trumping mental health for column inches. Yet experts agree that there in a link between mental illness and reoffending in the community. In the latest Policy Exchange report, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, leading experts say that it is time policy makers woke up to the realities of mental healthcare in prisons, and the report authors suggest that only a small reduction in re-offending rates would make a tripling of the prison mental healthcare budget cost effective. Read more →

Recently, I accompanied my sister to a pediatrician’s office — for the first (of many) vaccination appointment for her twin 8-week old girls. Fortunately for my sister, the nightmare ended after a few pokes of the needle and a few throaty bawls of protest. Sadly, not every parent’s ordeal ends the same way. Each day, parents around the world take their children on this routine with faith that this will protect their children against deadly and potentially life threatening infections. But what if this very tool that is intended to protect becomes a lethal source of disability? Read more →