Inspectors have raised concerns about the medical care available to inmates at HMP Grampian.
The £140million jail opened in 2014, and today, its first inspection report has been published.
A team from the HMP Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland spent nine days at the jail in December, speaking to inmates and observing the day-to-day routine.
The report is broadly positive, but inspectors did raise concerns about the length of time prisoners with mental health issues had to wait for treatment.
David Strang, HM chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, said: “One of the issues we highlighted was the waiting lists for mental health treatment. We’ve got a number of people in prison right across Scotland, if they’ve got addiction issues or mental health issues then those need to get treated.
“We were critical of the amount of time they have to wait.”
Overall, five of the 10 areas inspected were considered satisfactory, three generally acceptable and one – rehabilitation – was marked as good.
Health and wellbeing was the only area graded as poor.
But Mr Strang acknowledged starting a new prison threw up challenges, as establishing a routine takes time.
“Starting a new prison is a particular challenge because prisons in general run on routine,” he said. “If you’re establishing a new routine, you’ve got to set up regimes and timetables and you’ve got jostling for position among prisoners.
“The first year is always a challenging period so they’ve done well to get it stable.”
HMP Grampian governor Allister Purdie said he is taking steps to improve the prison.
“We’re actually working very closely with our partners in NHS Grampian to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we have in custody,” Mr Purdie said.
Mr Purdie added that he was concerned by the reports to inspectors that NHS nurses were “frequently threatened and verbally abused by prisoners”.
“Whatever we can do to make somebody safe will be one of my priorities for the year ahead as the governor of HMP Grampian.”
