Question reference: S5W-33914
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 8 December 2020
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 December 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of mobile telephone calls that have been made by prisoners to (a) Samaritans, (b) Breathing Space and (c) other mental health helplines in each month since April 2020, broken down by prison.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
The following table provides information on the number of calls made to the Samaritans by establishment, from the date on which the mobile phones were introduced. At the moment, the Samaritans is the only mental health helpline number available on the mobile phones.
We also do not hold any information in relation to calls made from HMP Kilmarnock as they introduced their own in cell telephony service rather than mobile phones, however individuals in HMP Kilmarnock can access the Samaritans from their phones.
Establishment | Implementation | Calls to Samaritans (up to 18 Nov 2020) |
Addiewell | 29-07-20 | 177 |
Barlinnie | 21-07-20 | 1363 |
Castle Huntly | 22-06-20 | 12 |
Cornton Vale | 15-06-20 | 77 |
Dumfries | 25-06-20 | 60 |
Edinburgh | 16-07-20 | 1216 |
Glenochil | 30-06-20 | 307 |
Grampian | 14-07-20 | 281 |
Greenock | 06-07-20 | 116 |
Inverness | 29-06-20 | 41 |
Low Moss | 27-02-20 | 356 |
Perth | 09-07-20 | 297 |
Polmont | 17-06-20 | 737 |
Shotts | 07-09-20 | 244 |
Total | 5284 |