TY - JOUR T1 - Health care in secure environments JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 724 LP - 725 VL - 56 IS - 530 AU - Nigel Sparrow Y1 - 2006/09/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/56/530/724.abstract N2 - The provision of health care in secure environments consists mainly of providing primary care, although the health needs of the prison population differs significantly from that of the population as a whole in the incidence of both psychiatric and social morbidity.1Figures published by the prison service and Marshall et al2 illustrate the problem: 54% of prisoners were found to have a physical health problem or disability at reception. The commonest physical illnesses were asthma and epilepsy.90% of people entering prison (150 000 people) had a mental health problem including substance misuse.29% of female prisoners, 24% of male prisoners and 4% of young offenders reported having injected drugs at some time.10% of adult prisoners who have injected drugs had hepatitis C antibodies.7% of the prison population had a serious mental health problem.Four times as many people smoked in prison than in the community13% of prisoners had asthma.20% of women in prison asked to see a doctor or nurse every day.Untreated dental disease was four times greater in prison compared to the rest of the population.The Department of Health and HM Prison Service published Developing and Modernising Primary Care in Prisons3 in 2002 and stated that: ‘Good primary care is the essential foundation on which any good healthcare system is built and this is especially the case in prison settings. A well trained and effectively managed primary healthcare … ER -