OFFENDERS in the community will be monitored by NHS staff for mental health and addiction support for the first time as part of efforts to reduce reoffending.

NHS staff working from probation offices will join appointments between probation workers and criminals in order to screen for mental health and drug or alcohol abuse and refer them to services.

Prisons and probation minister Lord Timpson said: “Too many offenders are stuck in a cycle of crime driven by untreated mental health problems or addiction.

“This new approach brings our NHS into the heart of the justice system so we can better diagnose and solve the problem while cutting reoffending.”

The pilot scheme comes as sentencing reforms going through Parliament are expected to see thousands more criminals serve their sentences in the community or leave jail earlier.

The initiative launched in reoffending hotspots in Cambridge, Middlesbrough and Ilfracombe, in Devon, at the end of last year, with a further roll-out to Hammersmith in west London expected this month.

NHS clinicians and nurses are set to screen up to 4,000 offenders to signpost them for further help.