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Expert psychiatric reports for the Parole Board for England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2024

Laura Middleton Open the ORCID record for Laura Middleton [Opens in a new window] ,
Lynne Daly  and
Rajan Nathan Open the ORCID record for Rajan Nathan [Opens in a new window]
Laura Middleton
Affiliation:
Specialist registrar (Specialty Trainee Year 4, ST4) in forensic psychiatry with Health Education England North West, Liverpool, UK. She currently works within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK.
Lynne Daly
Affiliation:
Consultant adolescent forensic psychiatrist and specialist psychiatric member of the Parole Board for England and Wales, London, UK. Dr Daly has a detailed insight into the parole process and extensive experience of its operationalisation in practice.
Rajan Nathan*
Affiliation:
Consultant forensic psychiatrist with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Chester, UK, Visiting Professor at the University of Chester, Adjunct Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, and Mental Health Lead and Clinical Lead of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, North West Coast (CRN NWC), based in the Churton House Resource Centre, Chester, UK. He has worked in a wide range of clinical settings, including secure hospitals, prisons and the community. He has significant experience of undertaking independent psychiatric assessments for parole hearings.
*
Correspondence Rajan Nathan. Email: t.nathan@chester.ac.uk
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Summary

The Parole Board for England and Wales advises on the release, recall and licence conditions of a small subgroup of prisoners serving determinate sentences and the majority of those serving indeterminate sentences. Since the establishment of the Parole Board in 1968, the parole process has been shaped and clarified by further legislation and case law. In certain scenarios, psychiatric expert evidence may be sought to inform the Board's determination of whether a prisoner can be safely released into the community. Psychiatrists preparing expert reports for the Parole Board should be familiar with the current operationalisation of parole. This involves an understanding not only of the functioning of the Parole Board, but also of the criminal justice context in which prisoners subject to parole are managed. Having set the scene, by describing the role of the Parole Board and the wider context, this article examines how to undertake assessments and complete psychiatric reports for the Board.

Keywords

Risk assessmentpsychiatry and lawhomicidesocial functioningmental health services
Type
Article
Information
BJPsych Advances , First View , pp. 1 - 9
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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