Independent Review of OUT Spoken Talking Therapy Service in North West Prisons – NHS England & Improvement (North West) (December 2022)
LimeCulture was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement North West to undertake a multi-phase review of the ‘OUT Spoken’ Talking Therapy service delivered by Survivors West Yorkshire in prisons across the North West of England.
During phase 1 of the review (commencing in November 2020), LimeCulture reviewed the implementation of the ‘OUT Spoken’ Talking Therapy service in HMP Buckley Hall to identify key learning and recommendations that would be useful to support the further rollout of the Talking Therapy service into other prison estates.
By 2022, the ‘OUT Spoken’ Talking Therapy service had been expanded into 12 prisons across the North West of England, and phase 2 of our review focused on assessing the implementation of the ‘OUT Spoken’ Talking Therapy service in three prisons (HMP Manchester, HMP Styal, and HMP Haverigg) selected to represent diverse categories, locations, and governance arrangements.
The review used quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the impact of the Talking Therapy service rollout. Key areas assessed as part of the review included referrals, accessibility, risk management, joint working, trauma-informed practices, service user involvement, and outcomes including addressing therapeutic needs, facilitating support access, and enhancing client well-being and behaviours.
The review aimed to determine whether the benefits observed in phase 1, at HMP Buckley Hall, had been replicated and sustained across the broader rollout of Talking Therapy Services. The final report provided a series of recommendations to embed and shape the further development of the Talking Therapy service.