The prison had not reduced inmate numbers since the previous report

Wandsworth Prison in south London has been rated poorly on all four of the Prison Inspectorate's "healthy prison" tests, Anne Owers said.

Assessing safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement, the inspectorate raised "serious concerns".

Black and ethnic minority prisoners consistently complained about racism, and overcrowding made conditions worse.

Ms Owers said the prison had "slipped back" in May's inspection compared to an inspection 16 months ago.

A key recommendation in the previous inspection report - to reduce prison numbers until the prison was fully staffed - had not happened.

Essentially, the underlying culture of the prison had not been sufficiently addressed Anne Owers Chief Inspector of Prisons

Instead, the same number of prisoners were held on fewer wings, with more staff on each wing - but also more prisoners, in even more cramped conditions, many with varying degrees of mental illness, the inspectorate report said.

It reiterated its suggestion that prisoner numbers be reduced while management is improved, but admitted it "is unlikely, given our overcrowded and pressurised prison system".

Prison managers blame low staffing levels for many of the problems.

During the previous inspection 16 months ago, the prison "was failing to meet basic standards of decency and activity for most of its 1460 prisoners" but the inspectors were told that a strategy was in place to rectify the many failings they found.

By May 2004, improvements had been made in some areas, such as greater access to showers and telephones, work with foreign nationals and improved induction.

'Significantly worse'

"But on all other indicators the prison had in fact slipped back since the last inspection," Ms Owers said.

In the prisoner survey, responses to 84 of the 122 questions were "significantly worse" than the benchmark for other local prisons.

"Essentially, the underlying culture of the prison had not been sufficiently addressed," Ms Owers said.

"And poor communication and factionalism within the staff team had consequences for prisoner care."

The report found that prisoners were out of their cells more, but many staff were not engaging with them, and some were actively disrespectful.

While there was no evidence of intimidation, there was little evidence of positive engagement.

A minority of staff "who offered a different approach" were praised in the report.

There was also evidence of discrimination in the inspectorate's survey and the prison's own ethnic monitoring statistics - as there had been at the previous inspection.

Achieving results

There was an increase in the number of prisoners who said they felt unsafe.

Healthcare had deteriorated since the last inspection, with poor communication within the healthcare department and between healthcare and other key areas, such as suicide prevention.

The prison's governor Jim Heavens said: "The report wasn't saying anything that we didn't know about, although it portrayed the prison rather more starkly than we were expecting."

Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust said: "This report shows that Wandsworth has fallen far short of the basic standards of decency and activity for most of its prisoners.

"To have any hope of preventing re-offending Wandsworth needs more staff and fewer prisoners."

Director of operations for the Prison Service, Michael Spurr, said the prison had struggled recently but was achieving results.

"Staff sickness has been reduced by 30% (from 17 days to 11.7); staff shortages have been reduced from 70 to 20; effective drug and resettlement strategies are in place," he said.

Staff are also being trained in diversity and effective links with the local community are being developed, he added.

The prison has until the end of the month to persuade the Prison Service that conditions are improving. If they are not, the jail could be handed over to the private sector.