This article sets out the background to offender health care in the UK and explains how the commissioning of services in England is changing. The roles and responsibilities of NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are explained with reference to prison health care, and other secure accommodation and community offender health.

Identified risks such as poor attendance at partnership boards, and lack of capability and capacity in clinical commissioning groups may lead to less attention being given to local system delivery and less engagement with key partners. Nurse managers, working in commissioning and provider settings, need to understand the changes to achieve greater partnership working and ensure that the quality of care across pathways is maintained for offenders.