I am a consultant psychiatrist working in a prison setting. My Fellowship will focus on the treatment of acutely mentally ill prisoners. At present, prisoners who are experiencing symptoms of severe mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder can wait many months before a bed in a secure hospital is available. While they are in prison, we are unable to treat them if they are not accepting tablets. Often, patients deteriorate massively during this period, and there can be many increased risks such as violence and self-harm.

It can be painful to witness the despair and deterioration in patients while they await transfer to a hospital setting, so I am motivated to find options to improve care pathways for this vulnerable cohort. I hope to be able to identify best practice for managing acutely unwell men in prison by visiting services in the USA which are set up to provide quicker and more effective treatments. I hope that we can improve how we allocate resources and attention to acutely unwell men in UK prisons.