Eye Care Services at HMP Swansea

HMP Swansea is a category B/C prison for adult males remanded into custody from the local courts, as well as convicted and sentenced prisoners. The prisoner profile is a familiar one across the UK; mainly young men from deprived backgrounds with low literacy and educational attainment, often with a history of drug taking and alcohol abuse, underlying poor nutrition and heavy smoking. Overall maintaining good overall health is a challenge. Many prisoners come into custody from areas of substantial deprivation with very high levels of treatment need.

The nature of the prison environment makes the delivery of care as equally challenging as the overall health of the patients. The population presents with incredibly high needs and there are a high number of emergency and urgent cases. The high turnover of prisoners in remand or short-stay institutions, where short sentences or frequent transfers between facilities mean courses of treatment can go unfinished as prisoners are moved on.