AN INQUEST into the death of a 23-year-old man found dead in his Portland prison cell has finished hearing evidence.

Bradleigh Trevor Barnes was found dead at HMP Portland on December 28, 2019.

Lisa Turner, regional manager for healthcare provider Practice Plus Group, said she could 'confidently say' changes had been made since Mr Barnes' death.

A healthcare representative was not present during a case review for Mr Barnes a couple days before his death - something Mrs Turner agreed was 'a missed opportunity'.

She said: "There is now somebody that is delegated specifically for case reviews."

The inquest previously heard Mr Barnes died 25 days after being referred by a member of prison staff to the mental health team.

Mrs Turner clarified that referrals to the mental health team should have been seen within 2-5 days but that this was an externally-set timeframe.

Mrs Turner said 'consistently' over the past 12 months urgent referrals had been being seen within two days and routine referrals within five days. Mrs Turner said 'where targets were missed' no routine referrals had waited more than seven days to be seen.

She said there was now a full-time psychiatrist and that the prison and healthcare services were now 'really good at working proactively together'.

At a previous hearing it had been put to Mrs Turner that there were 55 ACCT (Assessment, Care and Custody Teamwork) reviews in November 2019 where a healthcare representative hadn't been present.

Mrs Turner said that Practice Plus Group now audited healthcare attendance at ACCT reviews on a monthly basis and that this was 'largely showing 100% attendance'. She said ACCT reviews without a healthcare representative were now 'exceptionally rare'.

Governor Ian Beckett, head of offender management at HMP Portland, said 'thorough' and 'robust' changes had been made in the period since Mr Barnes death with every prison officer trained in suicide and self harm (SASH) prevention.

Mrs Turner said the 'aspiration' was for all healthcare professionals working in the prison to undergo SASH training.

A new healthcare provider will take over the contract at HMP Portland from December though Mrs Turner said the 'processes' and 'most of the staff' would 'remain in place'.

* If you're struggling or feeling as though life is difficult, Samaritans is available – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.