"The case for urgent investment in prison mental health care and the development of alternatives to prison has again been made clearly today," Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health director of prisons and criminal justice Sean Duggan said today.
Responding to Out of Sight, Out of Mind, published by Policy Exchange, Sean Duggan said: "Today's report demonstrates that change is needed across the board to tackle the high levels of mental distress among the rising prison population.
"We need to make improvements in prison by investing further in mental health services and ensuring all prison staff have a basic knowledge of mental health. We need to improve care planning for those released from prison as well as helping them to get somewhere to live and a job. And we need to invest in alternatives to imprisonment for those who can safely stay at home."
"I hope today's report will help to build a consensus about the importance of tackling this issue and will stimulate further debate about the best ways of making change happen."