20 March 2025

Health and Justice has successfully retained specialist services provided by CNWL across three women’s prisons in Surrey.

Lead Psychologists, Dr Louise Minchin and Dr Nicola Thomas, led the re-tendering process, which began in late 2024 as part of a national initiative to ensure stability within the UK’s Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway.

This pathway supports individuals in the criminal justice system who are considered high risk, helping them progress through psychological interventions and reduce the likelihood of causing serious harm.

Over the past two years, Health and Justice, in collaboration with the London Pathways Partnership, has also retained London-based OPD community services and launched a specialist service for men with learning disabilities at HMP High Down. The women’s services include:

  • A mentalisation-based therapy service at HMP Bronzefield
  • A forensically modified dialectical behaviour therapy service at HMP Downview
  • Two psychologically informed planned environments at HMP Send

These contracts will run for the next five years and start in April 2025.

Patrick Gillespie, Service Director for Health and Justice services, said:

“We are delighted to retain these innovative services that work with high-risk patients. This is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our teams and our commitment to providing high-quality care within the criminal justice system.”