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  1. Inspection debriefing paper

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HMP Woodhill Urgent Notification

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Urgent Notification at HMP Woodhill (PDF, 212.8 KB)

Urgent Notification for HMP Woodhill issued 17 March 2026.

Inspection debriefing paper (Back to top)

HMP Woodhill debrief paper (PDF, 275 KB)

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“My reasons for issuing this Urgent Notification are:

  • Rates of violence were very high.
  • Rates of self-harm remained among the highest in adult men’s prisons.
  • Drugs were far too easily available; positive random drug tests were among the highest in the adult men’s estate.
  • Rate of serious assaults on staff were the highest in the long term high secure estate (LTHSE). Around a third of all violent incidents involved the use of weapons.
  • The prison was dirty and in need of refurbishment.
  • The prison was fundamentally failing in its core function as a training prison. Too many men were locked up during the working day with nothing to do.
  • Inadequate offender management, interventions and risk reduction work.
  • Poor release planning for dangerous men.
  • Delays taking patients to A&E.
  • Very long delays in transferring acutely mentally unwell men to secure hospitals, on average the wait was 191 days, among the longest delays we have seen.”
Read the press release