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Parole, where psychiatry meets public protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2023

John O'Grady ,
Huw Stone Open the ORCID record for Huw Stone [Opens in a new window]  and
Kevin Murray
John O'Grady
Affiliation:
Works for the Parole Board for England and Wales, based in London, UK. He has been a National Health Service (NHS) consultant in general (1983–1989) and in forensic psychiatry (1996–2008); chair of governmental policy committees on mentally disordered offenders; chair of the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, London; and a Parole Board member (2008–2021).
Huw Stone
Affiliation:
(Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK) worked as an NHS consultant forensic psychiatrist for over 25 years in secure services for adults and adolescents, prisons and community forensic services. He retired from the NHS in 2019. He has been a Parole Board member since 2016.
Kevin Murray*
Affiliation:
Works for the Parole Board, London, UK. He was visiting forensic psychiatrist at Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wormwood Scrubs from 1994 to 2001 and Associate Medical Director at Broadmoor Hospital from 2001 to 2014. He has been a Parole Board member since 2018.
*
Correspondence Dr Kevin Murray. Email: kevin.murray@paroleboard.gov.uk
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Summary

This article aims to provide psychiatrists with an overview of early release of serving prisoners and parole, using the example of the Parole Board for England and Wales. The centrality of risk assessment and management and its clinical implications for release are reviewed. Offenders who come before a parole board and require a psychiatrist to be a member of the panel and who need evidence from psychiatrists on their disorder are often characterised by the complexity of their mental disorder. Offenders with complex mental disorder have difficulty assessing effective treatment and aftercare pathways, which can result in not being released. Offenders remitted back to prison following hospital transfer for treatment experience particular problems in being released. Three roles for psychiatrists in parole hearings are identified and guidance for effective participation in hearings is discussed. Commissioning implications of the difficulty assessing the need for community aftercare are noted.

Keywords

Forensic mental health servicespsychiatry and lawrisk assessmentprison mental healthparole board
Type
Article
Information
BJPsych Advances , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , March 2024 , pp. 97 - 105
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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