Prison drugs cause 13 emergencies in one day

Staff at a South East prison were called to more than a dozen serious medical incidents related to drug use in a single day, a report has found.

Prison staff at HMP High Down in Banstead, Surrey, faced 13 "code blue" incidents, where prisoners had collapsed or suffered serious breathing difficulties, in one day in 2025, with all of the cases related to drug use according to the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB).

A national report from the IMB, released on Wednesday, also found examples of issues with self-harm and population strains in prisons across Surrey, Kent and Sussex.

Prisons minister Lord James Timpson said "positive improvements" have been made but "more needs to be done" to improve.

The report, covering 2025, found that drugs in prisons "remained the most pervasive threat to safety and stability" and were linked to instances of self-harm, violence, medical emergencies and deaths in some prisons.

A separate report from the IMB released last week and focusing solely on HMP High Down found 49% of prisoners surveyed thought it was "easy" to get hold of drugs at the prison, down slightly from 56% in 2024.

Prolific self-harm also meant that some prisoners went without "vital support" in some institutions.

The issue particularly affected women's prisons such as HMP Send, near Woking, where a "relatively small number of highly disruptive prisoners had a significant impact on the general operation of the prison", the report found.

Other issues were noted around population pressures in prisons such as HMP Swaleside in the Isle of Sheppey in Kent and HMP Ford near Arundel, West Sussex, which were exacerbated by issues with prison transfers.

At Swaleside, an inmate was transferred to the prison despite having previously been stabbed by another prisoner there.

In Ford, a prisoner was transferred despite the institution not being able to accommodate his medical needs, leading to him being immediately returned to his previous prison.

Jane Leech MBE, interim national chair of the IMB, said 2025 was "marked by both enduring challenges and repeated upheavals".

She added: "Procedures supposed to safeguard some of society's most vulnerable people, instead frequently failed them.

"The IMB's commitment to shining light on the outcomes for detained people remains resolute."

Lord Timpson added: "Whether it's keeping the public safe by creating 3,000 more prison places, investing over half a billion in vital maintenance and security, or recruiting hundreds more officers, we are pulling every lever to turn the tide.

"To meet the challenge, our landmark sentencing reforms, alongside £4bn for 14,000 new prison places by 2031, will ease pressure, and we are tackling violence and drugs behind bars with over £40m invested in physical security to clamp down on contraband."

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