PRISONER deaths and a rise in violence and self-harm have left inspectors concerned in a recent report of Eastwood Park prison in Falfield.

The annual report for 2015/16 by the all female prison’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), released on Tuesday, is based on observations from nearly 400 monitoring visits.

Between May and October 2016, seven deaths were recorded in the prison, with three more having taken place since the inspection. The board outlined that it considered planned changes to address the problem a high priority.

The level of self-harm had substantially risen in 2016 compared to 2015 where 1,305 cases had been recorded. By August 2016, 1,478 cases had been recorded in the prison.

Continuing worries over the "unacceptably high" levels of violence, with 54 assaults on staff, six of which were considered serious, as well as 112 assaults on prisoners - resulting in an escalation from a green rating to amber.

The report also raised concerns over the impact on prisoners and staff of the low level of staffing, with fewer staff meaning less meaningful interaction with prisoners.

Eastwood Park, which includes a mother and baby unit and wings for substance misusers and women with personality disorders, has capacity for 442 female prisoners, an increase of 79 prisoners on the previous year.

The board’s chairman Ms Di Askwith said:“The board was most concerned about the number of deaths that happened in custody during the year.

“Each death is tragic and the board recommends that the planned changes to address this should take place without delay.”

“The Independent Monitoring Board at Eastwood Park considers this prison to be, in general, a safe, secure and decent environment with fair and just treatment of prisoners, in spite of recent staffing constraints and increasing levels of self-harm and violence.”

But the report, which is submitted to the Secretary of State for Justice, also highlighted some positive work in the prison, with inmates being given compassionate treatment, even in the most challenging of cases.

Ms Askwith said: “During the year IMB members reported seeing many examples of staff treating prisoners with care and compassion. Some of these involved very difficult cases where seriously mentally ill prisoners provided daily challenges.”