Abstract

Professor Brooker came into post in January 2006
and with funding attached to his chair had appointed
a full time research assistant (CS) and a PhD student
on a bursary within four months of arriving. The
group has grown steadily and a second RA joined
the team in 2008 (CF). Latterly administrative support
was offered by Katherine Onion and now Sue Bowler
has taken on this role with through funding for the
Research for Patient benefit Study. A number of
other honorary appointments have also been made
notably Fiona Gale, Damian Mitchell and Sara Moore.
The group has sought to maximise research and
consultancy income through diverse relationships
with stakeholders in the criminal justice system
these include: the Department of Health, the East
Midlands Regional CSIP Office, local NHS and
probation partners, Policy Exchange, the Church
of England1, and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental
Health. Our overarching aim has been to undertake
work that has the potential to improve the health
outcomes for offenders be these adults or children.
It is not surprising that mental health has been
a major concern but we have been eclectic and
have addressed a broader range of health issues
particularly those that might be described as primary
care/public health in orientation.
The field of criminal justice and health is small but a
fast-growing one as the fundamental inequalities for
offender healthcare begin to be recognised by the
mainstream NHS. Our group has made a significant
impact in terms of outputs and in terms of the
development of research capacity in this field. We
would like to think that we have been a small drum
that has beaten loudly.