Endorsed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the guidance is the first of its kind to address this often challenging area. It looks at a number of clinical areas and highlights issues such as medication misuse by patients and medications being traded between inmates.

This guidance has been written to assist clinicians working in prisons but it also has relevance for clinicians working in other secure environments such as forensic physicians and custody nurses; consultant psychiatrists; pain clinic prescribers; hospital prescribers and general practitioners who work with offenders.

Dr Marcus Bicknell, Chair of the Secure Environments Group, said:
"There are 136 prisons in England and approximately 250,000 people move through the prison system each year, many of whom will have health issues and need care. We hope this guidance will prove helpful to the different healthcare teams who have a responsibility to work with patients in secure settings."

Areas covered by the guidance include:
■Possession of Medicines
■Pain
■Neuropathic Pain
■Depression
■Epilepsy and Other Convulsive Conditions
■Psychoses
■Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
■Benzodiazepines: Use in Anxiety and Other Related Disorders
■Insomnia