The Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board has today (13 March 2025) published a Safeguarding Adults Review into Adult X, an ageing prisoner with care and support needs, who spent some time at HMP Norwich and was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where he spent some time waiting for appropriate accommodation.

Background

Adult X is in his early 80s.  He was sentenced in the 1990s to two life sentences for the rape of two women.  He had previous convictions for two similar offences, one of which involved a child in the 1970s.

He previously served his sentence in a prison in the north of England and was moved to HMP Norwich at the end of his sentence, to support a release to the local approved premises.  He originated from Essex prior to being detained and Essex probation service were managing his release.  He was released from prison in May 2022 and initially housed in Norwich.  Shortly afterwards he was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), and was discharged ten days later.  At the end of May he was readmitted and due to be discharged back to the local approved premises once fit.  The premises declined to accept him back stating that Adult X had care and support needs that they were unable to manage.

Adult X remained at the NNUH until mid October 2022 when suitable accommodation was eventually found.  During the time he was in hospital it was reported that he had been seen lying down with an elderly female patient; the patient had dementia.  There were also a number of reports of inappropriate behaviour with staff.

The report addresses:

• clarity regarding agencies roles and responsibilities, statutory and legal duties
• consideration of mental capacity, and how it was assessed
• was the multi-agency plan clear and understood by all agencies involved
• practice and policy issues
• an ageing prison population and their care and support needs

The report makes eight recommendations for practice improvement including:

1. Mapping Norfolk ordinary residents in Norfolk prisons with eligible social care needs to understand the projected need 
   and proactively plan.
   
   
2. The Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board, working via the National Network for Safeguarding Adult Chairs invites the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service and the Department of Health and Social Care to identify the cohort currently in prison who will require care and support on release to understand the projected need and proactively plan.
   
   
3. Norfolk Adult Social Services department to conduct a local options review of arrangements to explore the feasibility of 
   a co-located model placing social care staff in prisons including options for joint funding.
   
   
4. Norfolk Adult Social Services department to accept referrals from Norfolk's prisons earlier to pre-plan release when it is clear that a person may be released with eligible social care needs and is ordinarily resident in Norfolk.
   
   
5. To ensure that all organisations attending a MAPPA meeting are clear about their role and responsibility and ensure that any challenge to other professionals is respectful.
   
   
6. A Memorandum of Understanding between Norfolk probation and the Norfolk acute hospital safeguarding teams to be agreed to ensure that information about a prisoner who has been released with ongoing involvement with the Probation Service, and any risk, 
   is shared in a timely manner.
   
   
7. The Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board working in collaboration with the Local Government Association invites the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care to publish clarifying guidance to address the longstanding issue
   of 'Ordinary Residence rules'.
   
   
8. Norfolk Adult Social Services department to strengthen closer joint working with Suffolk County Council adult social care to ensure a smooth and timely process for the release of prisoners from HMP Norwich L Wing.

Full report

See also our seven minute briefings on enablers and barriers in multi-agency meetings here.