What matters to patients who are prisoners?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What matters to patients who are prisoners? Measuring patients' perceptions of the quality of prison life.
IRAS ID
229170
Contact name
Katrin Mueller-Johnson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Institute of Criminology, Uni. of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 6 days
Research summary
The proposed study explores patients’ perspectives on prison life, focusing on the moral climate of healthcare delivery (as opposed to regime factors or the clinical quality of care). It aims to explore the concept of patient satisfaction from the perspective of contemporary prisoners accessing NHS England healthcare, and to devise and test a contemporary measure of prisoners’ satisfaction with that care.
The study will draw upon, and complement, earlier influential studies relating to the moral quality of prison life – in particular, a 2004 study by Alison Liebling, assisted by Helen Arnold, which conceptualised and measured the moral climate of prisons, introducing the Measuring Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey. MQPL is used in prisons to measure satisfaction from prisoners’ perspectives: this study explores the patient perspective. It will present findings of practical relevance to HMPPS and NHS England.It will address two research questions, each with a subsidiary question. Firstly, what matters to prisoners in respect of healthcare provision in custody (and which of these elements are NHS England’s responsibility)? Secondly, is there a relationship between prisoners’ assessments of the quality of healthcare provision in custody and their assessment of the quality of prison life (and if the latter relationship exists, what is the strength of that relationship)?
A mixed-methods study of prisoners’ perceptions of the quality of healthcare will be conducted. Focus groups of approximately 40 prisoners and 10 healthcare staff will identify what matters to prisoners. This qualitative data will inform a questionnaire relating to the moral quality of prison healthcare; 100 completed questionnaires will be sought from prisoners at a second prison and a final focus group held to inform interpretation of results. Statistical analysis will be used to explore whether a relationship exists between prisoners’ satisfaction with healthcare and their satisfaction with two selected MQPL Harmony dimensions.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 1
REC reference
17/WS/0122
Date of REC Opinion
20 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion