London:
The number of suicides in prisons in England and Wales increased 64 percent in 2013-2014 compared to the previous year, due to "a rising toll of despair", the jail ombudsman said on Thursday.
"It has been suggested that prison staff are now so stretched, and the degree of need among some prisoners so high, that they may no longer be able to provide adequate care and support for some vulnerable prisoners," prisons and probation ombudsman Nigel Newcomen said.
He said the rise reflected mental health difficulties among prisoners and "a rising toll of despair".
In 2013-2014 90 prisoners killed themselves in England and Wales, up from 55 the previous year.
The government said that the reasons for each suicide were complex and individual and that it was working to understand the reasons behind the rise.
Juliet Lyon, the director of the Prison Reform Trust, said that it was crucial that people with mental health issues were given care and treatment.
"If the tragic and rapid rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths in custody does not wake ministers up to the damage drastic cuts and rushed policy decisions are doing to the prison service and the people in its care, it is hard to know what will," Lyon said.