HC Deb 01 July 1957 vol 572 cc695-6
61. Mr. Mayhew

asked the Minister of Health how many beds in mental hospitals are occupied by patients suffering from schizophrenia.

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

At the end of 1954, the latest date for which figures are available, the number was 54,179.

Mr. Mayhew

Does not the extent of this illness and its nature make it about the worst illness in this country, and will the hon. Gentleman ask the Medical Research Council to give it rather higher priority?

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

The Medical Research Council, as, I think, the hon. Member probably knows, is doing a great deal to encourage research into the causes and treatment of mental illness generally, and there are some lines in particular of biochemical and pharmacological research being pursued at the moment.