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HMP Rochester: rising violence and endemic drug use in vermin-infested, failing prison.

Published:

In September, a very concerning inspection of HMP Rochester led Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, to write to the Secretary of State to invoke the first Urgent Notification for improvement at a category C prison. Today, the full report from that inspection further outlines the dilapidated accommodation, rising violence and self-harm, widespread illicit drug use, and the lack of purposeful activity or risk reduction work inside the jail.

Rochester is supposed to be giving men the skills they need to get work and stay crime-free on release so it was shocking to see how little purposeful activity was going on with men hanging around on the wings with nothing to do.

Marked for closure a few years ago but remaining open largely in response to the prison population pressures, Rochester was in a very poor state. Prisoners used cardboard and towels to fill gaps under doors to keep rats and mice from invading their cells, and the smell of rat urine in some areas was overpowering.

Safety, much like the fabric of the prison, was deteriorating. Assaults against prisoners had increased by 67% over the past year, self-harm had risen 79% since the last inspection in 2021, and the positive drug testing rate was 42%, yet there was no coordinated action plan to tackle these cross-cutting, prison-wide issues.

Inexperienced officers and poor supervision of prisoners led to chaos on the wings. Staff struggled to enforce standards of good behaviour, frontline managers were rarely on the wings to support them, and there was poor communication across the jail.

Health care provision was unsafe and led to some very poor patient outcomes. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) requested action plans to address four health care breaches of quality and safety.

Rochester was fundamentally failing in its rehabilitative purpose as a category C training and resettlement prison. Less than a third of the population was engaged in purposeful activity and Ofsted graded the overall effectiveness of education, skills and work as inadequate. Although prisoners were generally unlocked during the day, most had nothing to do.
 
The reopening of the adjacent Cookham Wood as a men’s prison, and its merger with Rochester risks distracting from the very pressing problems in the jail. Continued support from senior leaders and substantial investment by HM Prison and Probation Service will be necessary if both prisons are to operate effectively, provide decent living conditions and become purposeful, rehabilitative places.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor

Notes to editors

  1. This inspection took place between 12-22 August 2024.
  2. Following the inspection, the Chief Inspector of Prisons wrote to the Secretary of State to invoke an Urgent Notification. Find out more about the Urgent Notification: HMP Rochester Urgent Notification
  3. A copy of the full report, published on 12 November 2024, can be found here. 
  4. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
  5. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.