Bristol Prison "not fit for purpose"
The Independent Monitoring Board says the prison is being pushed to its limits
A group, which monitors the treatment of prisoners in the UK says Bristol prison is "not fit for purpose".
The comment from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) comes after an inspection of the prison in July, which found it to be severely overcrowded and one of the most violent and unsafe in England and Wales.
At that time His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons wrote an Urgent Notification letter to the Secretary of State for Justice highlighting "extremely concerning" conditions inside.
Meanwhile The Howard League for Penal Reform, a charity calling for reform of the prison system, says there were eight self-inflicted deaths inside between the previous inspection in 2019 and the latest last summer.
On top of that, last June an inmate was charged with the murder of another.
"Staffing pressures contribute to a vicious cycle of prisoners spending longer hours in their cells, increasing frustration and reducing access to education, healthcare and other services, which does not support effective rehabilitation," a statement from the IMB reads.
The IMB also points to overcrowding, a lack of prison staff and insufficient healthcare for prisoners as other issues.
The number of prisoners inside they say, has risen from 480 to 580 over the past year, with six out of 10 prisoners now sharing a cell for up to 22 hours a day.
Many were built in Victorian times, for just one person.
IMB Chair Emma Firman said: “We are now seeing a prison that is being pushed to its limits.
"If the prison is to be fit for purpose, then additional resources and a reduction in overcrowding is needed to enable the hard working but overstretched staff to keep prisoners safe.
"Prisoners at Bristol are being failed and most will have a little chance of rehabilitation upon release.”
Prisons Minister Damian Hinds has previously told Hits Radio that the state of the prison is "completely unacceptable", adding the government will act to turn the prison around.
“We have already deployed extra staff to improve safety and work is underway to refurbish showers and cells, but we know much more work is needed to get the prison back to where it needs to be," he said.
"We will shortly publish our action plan which will set out what measures we’re taking to resolve the most serious issues.”