Section two The NPM in 2018-19 The positive findings from the last inspection are, in part, a result of this constant focus. CJINI’s report on Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre was published in June 2018. CJINI reported a high standard of care for children in the facility. The Independent Monitoring Boards in Northern Ireland attended an NPM training session with the NPM Secretariat in March 2019. IMBNI also recruited additional board members to the teams at Maghaberry and Hydebank Wood prisons, increasing the level of scrutiny there. During the year, the board at Hydebank Wood highlighted to the Prison Governor and CJINI concerns relating to the isolation of prisoners for periods of up to 28 days, with some held in special accommodation which incorporated chemical toilets rather than normal facilities. In addition, the IMB highlighted some variation in the treatment of prisoners by night staff in comparison with day staff. This resulted in the provision of additional Northern Ireland Prison Service training, especially for night staff, with the aim of improving care for prisoners. IMBNI continues with efforts to increase the visibility of its boards to prisoners by displaying posters around prisons and attending education and work areas during the day. The Northern Ireland Policing Board Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (NIPBICVS) had a busy year in 2018–19. Following the Assembly election in March 2017, a Northern Ireland Executive was not formed nor a Justice Minister appointed. That meant that the Northern Ireland Policing Board could not be fully constituted and members could not be appointed. In November 2018, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland introduced the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018. This legislation provided the scope for the appointment of members to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, allowing for the Board to be reconstituted on 1 December 2018. However, during this time independent custody visitors were still able to carry out visits to police stations. From April 2018 to March 2019 NIPBICVS carried out 508 custody visits across Northern Ireland, 41 of which were to TACT suites. Following inspections of police custody in Northern Ireland by CJINI and RQIA, recommendations were made for better health care within custody suites. During April 2018 the Public Health Agency began evaluating the Custody Pathfinder Programme, a custody health care reform initiative. The Policing Board’s Custody Visitors are actively participating in the review methodology and are a key stakeholder in the group. NIPBICVS continued to carry out training sessions to ensure independent custody visits were effective and preventive, including sessions on human rights, equality and mental health. During 2018–19 the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) began an internal restructure, which has enabled more effective inspection programming. Towards the end of this reporting period RQIA also implemented a refreshed multidisciplinary inspection methodology, which combines an evaluation of systems delivering care with a detailed examination of leadership, governance and assurance arrangements within and across the facilities 41

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