Food poisoning outbreak at Ford Prison

A FOOD poisoning outbreak has been traced back to Ford Prison’s “unsuitable” and “out-dated” kitchen.

Thirteen inmates were taken ill after eating in the canteen, which watchdogs claim should have been replaced years ago.

The Gazette understands the outbreak has been investigated by Arun District Council, but the council would not confirm this, nor whether it was considering legal action against the prison authorities.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman confirmed that 13 inmates at Ford had been affected by food poisoning.

Last month, in a damning report, following an inspection of the prison carried out in December, HM Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick raised concerns about the standard of catering at Ford.

He said: “Most prisoners we spoke to said that the quality of the food was variable and the food that we sampled was of low to average quality.”

He added: “The kitchen was dirty during our night visit.”

Ford’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) also cricitised Ford’s kitchen in its last two reports, the latest, for 2009/10, being published just weeks after the prison’s New Year’s Day riot.

In the report, chairman Charles Pinney said that despite concerns being raised, the building of a new kitchen had been put back by a year.

“We have commented before on the unsuitability of the kitchen and are pleased to note that the funding for the proposed new kitchen is still in place, although the building of it has been pushed into 2011,” he said.

Similar concerns were highlighted by Mr Pinney’s predecessor, Denis M Lindsell, in the previous year’s report.

He wrote: “The kitchen is located in an entirely unsuitable building which requires extensive modernisation.

“Maintenance is continually being carried out but is only a ‘patch and mend’ exercise. The majority of the equipment is outdated and frequently breaks down.”

Mr Pinney added that the board had received numerous complaints from inmates regarding the quality of the food, but at the time of writing the report, felt it was of “satisfactory in terms of both quality and quantity in the context of the budget and facilities available”.

Councillors on Arun’s licensing and enforcement committee, meeting in closed session on Friday, discussed a food poisoning outbreak at a “catering establishment”, but the council refused to confirm whether it was Ford, or if any action would be taken.

In a statement, a spokesman said: “We are investigating an incident at a catering establishment in the Arun district.

“Any incident of this nature, including the name and location of the establishment, is always dealt with under exempt businesses.”

The Ministry of Justice was also asked to comment on the outbreak, and on the state of the kitchens at Ford, but would only confirm that 13 prisoners had been taken ill, on February 14.

A spokeswoman added: “Local environmental health officers were informed.”

The food poisoning outbreak continues a troubled year for Ford, which began on January 1, when about 30 inmates went on the rampage just after midnight, after refusing to be breathalysed.

They caused an estimated £3m of damage, after setting fire to six buildings, and peace was restored only when specialist prison forces, in riot gear, were sent in.