There is also evidence that younger and older prisoners, women and those from minority ethnic groups have greater or more specific health needs than the prison population as a whole.

Prison public health is therefore important as prisons provide an opportunity to identify and treat health, wellbeing and care needs of people who have faced a lifetime of disadvantage and often live on the margins of society. For a large number of the offender and prison population their health and care needs began early in life, but their needs have not been identified or met and have been exacerbated by social issues (House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, 2018).

In Wales there is a Partnership Agreement for Prison Heath in Wales. This is a collaborative agreement between Welsh Government, HMPPS, Health Boards and Public Health Wales.  The agreement has the following priorities:

• The wider prison environment and its contribution to improving health and wellbeing
• Mental health and the development of standards for mental health services in prisons
• Substance misuse and the development of a new Substance Misuse Treatment Framework for prisons
• Medicines Management and reviewing the extent to which the Royal Pharmaceutical Society standards for medicines management are being achieved.