Secure Healthcare

Expert Primary Care services for Prisons and Immigration Removal Centres…

Experts in Secure Healthcare Provision...

We founded Med-Co Secure Healthcare in 2010 with a vision to place GP services at the heart of prison healthcare. We aim to bring closer equivalence of care to community medicine and also enable GPs to maximise their contribution in caring for this exceptionally vulnerable patient group.

Our ethos is based on finding the right clinicians to join us, to strive for excellence in everything we do, to treat our patients with dignity and respect and to support one another in a highly demanding work environment.

Today we have a specialist team of professional clinicians who use their passion and skills to make our vision a daily reality, from highly experienced senior practitioners, (who also hold external roles like GP Assessors and CQC inspectors), to newly qualified practitioners.  All are driven by a genuine desire to learn, improve and share their individual experiences for the benefit of Colleagues, Patients, Clients and Stakeholders.  

Secure Healthcare Delivery

Working directly with public and private sector organisations to deliver Healthcare contracts as a prime provider, we build constructive, meaningful partnerships that help us enhance the quality of healthcare provision for Service Users, Clients, Staff and Stakeholders.  

Our team of experienced Clinicians and Operational Managers work closely with each of our Clients to map out bespoke support requirements and plan ongoing service improvements.  

Through collaboration with fellow Healthcare providers and other relevant bodies, we deliver commercially sustainable healthcare services, whilst remaining cost effective and offering added value wherever possible.

Secure Staffing Solutions

Med-Co has been supplying experienced clinical candidates to various secure sites across the UK and abroad, for 25+ years, including specialist GP and Nursing staff who are: 

  • Highly qualified, fully vetted and compliance checked 
  • experienced Substance Misuse and Mental Health practitioners
  • able to provide assistance in both General and IDTS clinics
  • fully understand restricted prescribing formulary and security issues associated with secure Healthcare  
  • experienced in both Community and Secure Healthcare environments
  • uniquely positioned to troubleshoot difficult situations, through sharing best practice and prior experience gained from different healthcare sites.

We have provided secure healthcare services to...

His Majesty's Prison Sites:

Photograph of HMP Altcourse

HMP / YOI Altcourse

Category B local prison, in the Fazakerley area of Liverpool, receiving sentenced and remand male adult prisoners and young offenders, from the Cheshire and Merseyside courts. The prison has capacity for up to 1,164 men.

Photograph of HMP Bristol

HMP Bristol

Category B local prison, in the Horfield area of Bristol, with a capacity of 580.  It houses adult men on remand awaiting trial or serving short sentences and newly sentenced prisoners awaiting transfer to another prison.

Photograph of HMP Bronzefield

HMP / YOI Bronzefield

Category A female adult and young offender prison, located on the outskirts of Ashford in Surrey. It is the only purpose-built private prison solely for women in the UK and the largest female prison in Europe, with a capacity of 572.

Photograph of HMP Coldingley

HMP Coldingley

Category C male adult prison, located in the village of Bisley, in Surrey, with the capacity to accommodate 513 men. It has a focus on training and resettlement, preparing inmates for life outside the prison system. 

Photograph of HMP Deerbolt

HMP / YOI Deerbolt

Category C male adult and young offenders prison, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, with capacity for 513 men aged 18-21.  It offers a structured environment that emphasises education, training and rehabilitation.

Photograph of HMP Dovegate

HMP Dovegate

Category B male adult facility near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, with capacity for up to 1060 inmates age 21+, serving a range of sentences including trial, remand, those awaiting sentence and those serving long and short term sentences.

Photograph of HMP Downview

HMP / YOI Downview

Category C female adult and young offender prison, in Sutton, Surrey, for women aged 18+.  It can accommodate up to 355 female prisoners and offers a range of facilities and rehabilitation support services.

Photograph of HMP Durham

HMP Durham

Category B male adult reception prison, in Old Elvet, near Durham, opened in the early 19th century.  It can accommodate up to 980 prisoners, mainly on remand (having not yet been sentenced). 

Photograph of HMP Forest Bank

HMP / YOI Forest Bank

Category B male adult young offender prison, in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury in Salford.  It can accommodate up to 1,460 men and holds prisoners on remand, as well as those who have been sentenced.

Photograph of HMP Frankland

HMP Frankland

Category A, male adult prison, in Brasside, County Durham. With an 800 prisoner capacity, it is a dispersal prison that holds prisoners with sentences usually 4 years or more, including life sentences and high-risk remand prisoners.

Photograph of HMP Guys Marsh

HMP Guys Marsh

Category C male adult training prison, near Shaftesbury, Dorset. Able to accommodate up to 578 inmates, it was originally a US military hospital, became a borstal in 1960, a YOI in 1984 and a prison in 1992.

Photograph of HMP Haverigg

HMP Haverigg

Category D male adult prison, situated just outside the Lake District National Park, located in the village of Haverigg in Cumbria.  A former RAF camp, around 300 prisoners are currently accommodated in a broad range of residences.

Photograph of HMP Highdown

HMP Highdown

Category C male adult training and resettlement prison, located on the outskirts of Banstead in Surrey.  Built on the site of the former Banstead asylum, the prison has capacity to house up to 1180 men on remand and serving sentences.

Photograph of HMP Hull

HMP / YOI Hull

Category B male adult and young offender’s, local prison, in Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, with capacity for up to 1044 men.  Originally built as a Victorian prison, it was also used as a military prison during WW2.

Photograph of HMP Humber

HMP Humber

Category C male adult prison, located south-west of Everthorpe, Yorkshire. Opened as a merger between HMP Everthorpe and HMP Wolds in 2015, this resettlement prison has capacity to hold 1062 male inmates.

Photograph of HMP Kirklevington

HMP Kirklevington Grange

Category D male adult open prison in Stockton-on-Tees, Yorkshire. It has capacity for 300 men resettling in the north-east of England and aims to prepare prisoners for release by addressing their resettlement needs.

Photograph of HMP Lewes

HMP Lewes

Category B male adult local prison in Lewes, England. It can accommodate 742 inmates and is a resettlement prison, holding convicted prisoners and prisoners on remand, mainly from East and West Sussex courts.

Photograph of Low Newton

HMP / YOI Low Newton

Category A closed female adult and young offender prison, in Brasside, County Durham. It is a high security prison with capacity for 336 inmates aged 18+. Built in 1965 if became a female prison in 1998.

Photograph of HMP Northumberland

HMP Northumberland

Category C male adult prison, in Morpeth, Northumberland, built on the former RAF site Acklington airfield.  Following a merger of HMP Acklington in 2011, it can hold up to 1348 inmates and is the most northerly prison in England. 

HMP / YOI Norwich

Category B/C male adult and young offender prison, in Norwich, Norfolk.  A training and resettlement prison, with capacity for up to 733 and one of the only prisons in the UK to have a wing dedicated to elderly inmates.

Photograph of HMP Oakwood

HMP Oakwood

Category C male adult prison in Featherstone, Staffordshire.  With accommodation for up to 2,106 men, it is one of the largest prisons in the UK.  Originally referred to as Featherstone 2, it was officially named in 2011.

Photograph of HMP Peterborough

HMP Peterborough

Category B private prison for men and closed prison for women and young offenders, located in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.  It is the only dual purpose-built prison holding males and females in the UK.

Photograph of HMP Send

HMP Send

Category C closed female adult prison in Ripley, Send, in Surrey. Originally an isolation hospital, it was demolished and rebuilt in 1999 and is now a training prison, which can accommodate up to 282 inmates.

Photograph of HMP The Verne

HMP The Verne

Category C male adult prison, located within the historic Verne Citadel on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset.  Accommodating up to 608 prisoners, it houses men on medium and long term sentences. 

Photograph of HMP Winchester

HMP / YOI Winchester

Mainly a Category B adult male and young offender prison, in Winchester, Hampshire. This site also has a small separate Category C facility for adult men, housing around 690 inmates in total across the two sites.

Photograph of HMP Portland

HMP / YOI Portland

Category C male adult and young offenders training and resettlement prison, with capacity for 530 prisoners.  Located on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England, it originally opened in 1848 and became a a YOI in 1988.  

Immigration Removal Centres:

Photograph of Dungavel House

IRC Dungavel

Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) is a facility located in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, near the town of Strathaven, sometimes referred to as Dungavel Castle or Dungavel House.  Since 2014, Med-Co Secure Healthcare Services have been providing whole of healthcare services at Dungavel, working collaboratively with various partners and stakeholders to ensure all residents receive the very best patient-centred care and community equivalent services.

Photograph of Harmondsworth

IRC Harmondsworth

Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) is a facility located in Harmondsworth, London Borough of Hillingdon, near London Heathrow Airport.  It is currently one of the largest detention centres in Europe.  Med-Co Secure Healthcare Services provided whole of healthcare services at this site, under a temporary interim contract, from January to August 2014.

Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Sites:

MOD (Overseas):

Akrotiri, Dhekelia and Episkopi

The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA) are two British military bases on the island of Cyprus. They are located in the south and southeast of the island, near the cities of Limassol and Larnaca, respectively.

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital

The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (1987) in Stanley, Falkland Islands, is the islands’ only hospital.  Providing primary and secondary healthcare facilities, it is also the base for dental and community health.

Nyati

Nyati Barracks is a British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) facility in Nanyuki, Kenya, which houses the unit’s headquarters, accommodation, and other facilities. It is located at Laikipia Air Base East in Laikipia County.

Seria

The British Forces Brunei (BFB) is based near the oil town of Seria, Brunei and includes a number of locations, including Sittang Camp and Medicina Lines, which is home to the Jungle Warfare Division and 1563 Flt RAF.

MOD Sites (UK):

Albemarle Barracks

Beachley Barracks

Brompton Barracks

Dalton Barracks

Jellalabad Barracks

Larkhill Garrison

RAF Boulmer

RAF Brize Norton

RAF Coningsby

RAF Cosford

RAF Halton

RAF Honington

RAF Leconfield

RAF Lyneham

RAF Marham

RAF Waddington

RAF Wittering

RAF Wyton

RNAS Culdrose / St Mawgan

Royal Marines Poole

Shrivenham

The Barracks, Brecon

Warminster Medical Centre

Other Secure Healthcare Related Services:

Specialist Training for Secure Staff

In addition to providing turnkey healthcare services, we also offer bespoke training packages, tailored to the needs of custody and secure healthcare staff.

Based on an intimate knowledge of the behaviours and competencies required in secure roles, and the various issues prevalent amongst staff and patient groups within secure estates, we can help develop custody staff to recognise and cope with the day to day pressures of this exacting work.

From mental health first aid awareness to substance misuse best practice, we can help you fully equip your staff with the skills and understanding they need to perform their roles safely, protect their own wellbeing and safeguard colleagues, co workers and patients.

Medico-Legal and ERCG Report Writing

We are proud to have been an approved supplier of Early Release on Compassionate Grounds Reports, since 2020, providing high quality reporting from expert independent medical advisors to the Ministry of Justice.

The ERCG Policy Framework sets out the criteria and process for Prisoners wishing to make an application for Early Release on Compassionate Grounds (ERCG), for determinate and indeterminate sentenced prisoners, children and young people.

With extensive clinical experience and a deep understanding of prison healthcare arrangements, our independent medical advisors are highly skilled professionals uniquely placed to undertake this sensitive and important work.