Report raises concerns over medical access at Castlerea Prison
A self contained apartment in the Grove, Castlerea Prison. A new report has found conditions were excellent in the new accommodation in the Grove Unit.
Access to healthcare at Castlerea Prison was raised as a concern in the recent Inspector of Prisons’ Report. However, aspects of the prison’s housing were praised as excellent. Conversely, the report noted that the Equine Unit, which was opened in 2022, was “barely utilised at the time of the inspection”.
Published last week, the 2025 report, following an unannounced eight day inspection last September, highlighted concerns among prisoners about long waiting times and the cancellation of medical appointments.
The report noted that for those prisoners with routine concerns, access was limited, and that new committals and urgent cases were prioritised.
“However, other patients could wait months to access a doctor. There appeared to be no systematic recording of how long individual patients had been waiting,” the report continued.
It added that the three week average waiting time, indicated to the inspectorate, “cannot be considered to accurately reflect the experience of many patients at Castlerea”. Furthermore, the report said it was concerned about the number of non-attendances of hospital appointments due to the lack of availability of prison staff for escort. One in six external hospital appointments scheduled in the first six months of last year did not proceed because staffing numbers did not allow for escort. It called for additional staff to be allocated for this.
“Although appointments may be rescheduled, the cancellation of appointments has significant detrimental consequences on healthcare delivery and the prognosis of patients,” the report continued. “Access to the dentist was very poor. At the time of inspection, the waitlist for the dentist was 176 people–or two in five prisoners at Castlerea. The estimated wait time was between 12-18 months.” In terms of accommodation, on the first day of the inspection, September 8th, Castlerea Prison was operating at 119% capacity and there were 442 people in custody. Of these, 35 people were sleeping on mattresses on the floors.
“Living conditions varied considerably across the prison. Conditions were excellent in the new accommodation in the Grove Unit, which provided single room occupancy,” the report noted. “The exteriors of the pre-existing houses at the Grove Unit had been repainted, but the interiors of some of these houses required urgent repairs and renovation.”
In the main prison, A Division was severely affected by overcrowding, with 26 men sleeping on mattresses on the floors. Access to showers was very poor, the report found, with nine showers to serve approximately 239 men.
“In the report on its 2024 visit to Castlerea Prison, the Council of Europe’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) noted that the conditions of detention of the vulnerable people held in C1 and C2 Divisions may well amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. The Inspectorate observed that there had been no changes to these Divisions since the CPT’s visit.”
The report praised the quality of food at Castlerea Prison as excellent “and it is commendable that mealtimes continued to be aligned with times in the community. In this area, Castlerea Prison provides a model for other prisons to follow.”
Concern was also raised about the amount of time some of the prisoners were allowed out of their cell. In terms of risk assessment for prisoner on prisoner violence, there was a lack of information.
The Castlerea Health and Safety Register pilot scheme was praised as a positive initiative which could potentially provide greater managerial oversight of serious incidents in the prison. It added that there was a need to increase the number of work training spaces available at the prison.
“While the Inspectorate welcomes management’s plans to prioritise purposeful activity in particular work and training; some important facilities such as the Equine Unit were barely utilised at the time of the inspection.”
Between 2021 and 2025, the Inspector of Prisons received 22 category A complaints. These relate to assault or use of excessive force against a prisoner or ill treatment, racial abuse, discrimination, intimidation, and threats.
