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to 200,000 people flow in and out of prison each year,
many staying only a few months. Prisoners have both an
extremely high prevalence and complexity of mental disorders,
often combining vulnerability factors (such as homelessness
or a history of abuse) with multiple disorders and substance
abuse. They include some of the most disturbed, disturbing
and socially excluded members of our society. They present
a tremendous challenge to those charged with their care.
As
in the community, most care for mental-health problems
in prisons is provided by doctors, nurses and others
who are not mental-health specialists. This website
has been written to help the generalists carry out the
mental health aspects of their role and to help those
in Primary Care Trusts and Health Authorities who are
their partners. It assumes that generalist staff will
have access to specialist advice and treatment and does
not attempt to be a guide to secondary- or tertiary-level
psychiatry. Nevertheless, it recognises that the role
of primary care within prisons is a particularly demanding
one.
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