§ 28. Mr. Waltersasked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied with the present allowance for food per patient in mental hospitals; and if he will make a statement.
§ 29. Mr. Charles Morrisonasked the Minister of Health how often he reviews the allowance for food per patient per week at mental hospitals.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonThe amount spent on food at hospitals is decided by the hospital management committees. My Department is carrying out a study of food in psychiatric hospitals and I hope shortly to give advice which will help management committees in making these decisions.
§ Mr. WaltersBearing in mind the fact that what that amounts to is 37s. 6d. per patient per week, on average, and that this has to include provision for special diets, when prescribed—which is about one-third of that prescribed in ordinary hospitals—and that patients who have left mental hospitals are loth to complain, should not the Minister institute an inquiry as soon as possible?
§ Mr. RobinsonI do not accept the hon. Member's figures. On average, the cost per person per week in mental illness hospitals in 1964–65 was 25s. 2d., and the cost in acute hospitals was 33s. 3d. Some disparity is to be expected because of the extra quantities of milk and some other foods which are required for physically ill people and the greater number of elderly patients in psychiatric hospitals. I am not satisfied that these considerations fully justify the present disparity.
Mr. Raphael TackCan my right hon. Friend say whether there is any justification for treating mental patients as "untouchables" or second-class citizens by giving them a lower food allowance than is given in ordinary hospitals?
§ Mr. RobinsonThere is no reason whatever for treating psychiatric patients as "untouchables"—nor do I think that they are so treated today. I have given the reason for the difference between the cost of feeding the two types of patient. I should not like to foreshadow the results of the study I am having undertaken, which is not quite complete.