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The OPD CORE-OM Service is a relatively new provision at HMP Thameside and was introduced in January 2022. The service aims to provide a pathway of psychologically informed services for individuals who have historically been excluded from mainstream services due to being labelled with Personality Disorder (PD) and difficult to work with. More specifically, the provision offers targeted specialist advice to support offender management and sentence planning, taking account of complex psychosocial and criminogenic needs relating to personality difficulties. We work closely with Catch 22 and Probation in the Offender Management Unit, to identify individuals who are stuck in the system or finding it difficult to progress through their sentence / into the community due to personality issues. This may include lifers or IPPs who are over tariff and are finding it difficult to meet their sentence plan objectives, or individuals with other sentence types who find it difficult to stay out of prison and are frequently recalled, amongst other sub-groups. Individuals do not need a diagnosis of Personality Disorder to be eligible for the pathway. Rather, we focus on identifying and working alongside those with problematic personality traits which are linked to risk of harm or reoffending.
- Address: HMP Thameside, Griffin Way, London, SE28 0FJ
- Reception hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays & every other Friday from 8am-4pm
- Reception phone number: 020 8317 9777 Ext 455
What does our service do?
Case identification: Identifying men who meet the OPD pathway criteria to ensure they have an appropriate plan in place with the maximum amount of time available for it to be delivered.
Case consultation: Helping make sense of complex / challenging behaviour whilst offering practical and effective advice for individuals who are tricky to manage / engage with. This can be responsive to a request for assistance or planned through organised individual or group meetings.
Case formulation: Developing a theory about the onset, motivation and maintenance factors about an offender’s behaviour and functioning.
Joint casework: Time-limited joint casework may be beneficial in a small number of cases, most likely offenders with the most complex needs at critical points in time.
OPD Referrals: Supporting referrals to OPD services in custody or the community for individuals needing more specialist psychological support, interventions, and approaches.
Workforce development: Both general training on PD awareness, as well as tailored provision to match local need.
Who is this service for?
This is a prison based OPD CORE-OM Service, offering consultation to Prison Offender Managers (POMs) for some capacity for time-limited joint working. It caters for people who have been sentenced and are over the age of 21.
Sentenced prisoners who screen in to the OPD Pathway and meet all of the following criteria:
- Sentenced prisoners at any point during their sentence, assessed as presenting a high likelihood of violent or sexual offence repetition and as presenting a high or very high risk of serious harm (RoSH) to others.
- Likely to have a severe personality disorder.
- A clinically justifiable link between the personality disorder and the risk.
- The case is managed by NPS.
Cases will be accepted via the POM however individuals can be referred to the service by any professional concerned about risk related to personality issues.
Our team
Service Lead: Bethany Browne (Forensic Psychologist)
Tel: 020 8317 9777 (Ext 455)
Email: Bethany.browne@nhs.net
How to contact this service
Email: Bethany.browne@nhs.net
We aim to respond to all emails within 3 working days.
Phone: 020 8317 9777 Ext 455
Our phone line is available Wednesday, Thursday and every other Friday from 8am to 4pm.
Parking/transport: Visitor Parking is available upon request. There are two electric charging points available. There is a good bus route, and HMP Thameside is a short walk from Plumstead station.