Prison staff at HMP Perth have taken more than 7,000 days off work for mental health reasons in the last five years, new data has shown.
In the five years leading up to March 2021 a total of 7,115 days off at the jail were attributed to mental health issues.
Across Scotland, 100,770 working days were lost during this period as prison staff called in sick because of their mental health.
The figures have been criticised by the Scottish Conservatives, who say it shows the need for the pressures on prison staff to be tackled head-on.
‘Full scale of SNP government neglect’
At HMP Perth, 1,467 working days were lost between April 2020 and March 2021, down on the previous year when 2,315 days off were taken.
The sickness rate attributed to mental health among prison staff nearly doubled between 2017-18 and 2018-19, rising from 897 to 1,736 days off.
The Scottish Conservatives claim the Scottish Government’s failure to tackle the ‘drugs crisis’ in prisons was a key factor behind the numbers.
Jamie Greene MSP, the party’s shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice said: “These damning figures from the Scottish Prison Service show the full scale of SNP government neglect.
“Prison staff are subjected to vast amounts of pressure every day, and we have a responsibility to alleviate some of that pressure by tackling its causes head-on.
“The SNP government’s failure to address the drugs crisis in our prisons only feeds into a vicious cycle of crime.
“That can lead to violence against prison staff and cause significant mental health problems.
“To avoid mental health absences increasing even further, the SNP must take action to stop letting drugs into our prisons and clamp down on violence against our hard-working prison officers.”
The Prison Officers’ Association Scotland told the Scottish Sun overcrowding was also a problem staff faced.
Phil Fairlie said although the situation had improved during the coronavirus crisis, when some prisoners were released early, it was expected to worsen.
He said: “One of [the] other big problems is prisoners with mental health issues.
“For many, prison is not the right place for them, and prison officers – with the best will in the world – are not trained to deal with the significant mental health issues.
“That, in turn, can lead to some staff ending up with mental health issues due to working in that environment.”
Staff welfare taken ‘extremely seriously’
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Prison officers do a very difficult job which tends to be hidden from wider society, and we take the health and wellbeing of our staff extremely seriously.
“We have wide range of support mechanisms in place to help staff cope with stress and other mental health issues.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government added: “The number of days lost to mental health absence has fallen in each of the last two years and was nearly 12% lower in 2020-21 than it was in 2018-19.
“We recognise the importance of providing a safe environment for staff who work in our prisons.
It is to the great credit of staff who work in our prisons that they perform well and that good order is maintained
Scottish Government
“Prison officers work in a difficult and intensive environment. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) provides a range of measures and interventions for staff who require them, including occupational health support and access to counselling services.
“It is to the great credit of staff who work in our prisons that they perform well and that good order is maintained. That is especially true given the additional complexities caused by the Covid period.
“The use of illegal drugs in prisons is not tolerated and a comprehensive range of robust security measures are in place to prevent the introduction of contraband entering our prisons.”