Huge thanks to our team this week for organising our successful sponsorship of the 10th annual health and justice conference in Belfast – Steven, Hannah, Jason and Mike all going above and beyond in Belfast. And an even bigger thank you to Graham, Sean, Chris, Russell and Rean for holding the fort back in Chelmsford.
SONAR CMS also attended the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, likely the last party conference before the UK general election.
It was fantastic to see the interest in SONAR and we look forward to following up with many new friends both in the UK and Ireland.
What was striking was the common themes in the discussion in both Belfast and Liverpool.
The theme of the Belfast event was “building bridges”. The keynote speakers emphasised the importance on collaboration between health and justice and all their constituent agencies. Professor Nicola Ranger, Director of Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, said that she had sought to challenge siloed working throughout her career. She said that health and justice teams should have “one purpose, one goal: the people we are looking after”.
Dr Mark Juniper, lead clinical co-ordinator (medicine) of the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, described how better record-keeping and medicines management were linked to reductions in drug-related deaths in prisons. Dame Carol Black, leader of several reviews of drugs policy in the UK, explained that only a joined-up effort between health and justice departments in government could enable better treatment.
Across the Irish Sea, Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader, said that his goal was to make government “joined-up” as well as “dynamic” and “strategic”. Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary, said that a “modern” NHS should be judged on how it prevents people from suffering ill health and harm.
In my presentation in Belfast, I argued that SONAR will deliver exactly this vision of joined-up health and criminal justice. It’s the reason why the individual modules of SONAR, from police custody to prisons to release, to GPIT are all part of the same healthcare information system.
I also said that I don’t have all the answers. My hope is that the health and criminal justice community can help us design the system that best meets their needs – all supported by joined-up commissioning.
Introducing the Belfast conference, Dr Caroline Watson, Chair of the Secure Environments Group of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that the meeting should set a “foundation of hope” at a time when health and justice are under such pressure.
The wish to collaborate and to come together seems to me a great foundation on which to build.