§ 3. Mr. Blakerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take regarding the case of a boy of 10 years, details of which are known to him, who has been intermittently detained with adult male patients in a mental hospital.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Security (Dr. John Dunwoody)This boy is presently undergoing spells of hospital care alternating with spells at home. I am advised that the nature of his disturbance is such that he cannot satisfactorily be cared for in a children's hospital unit and that his best hopes for 797 improvement lie rather with the emphasis on prolonged social training in a close restricted setting than in specific medical treatment. I understand that there is a possibility that this boy might be found suitable for the first of the homes to be established by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary under Section 64 of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1969, which is expected to become available by the end of this year.
§ Mr. BlakerI welcome the last part of the Joint Under-Secretary's reply so far as it goes, but does not he agree that, as this boy has been detained in a mental hospital for the best part of two years, his chances of ever leading a satisfactory life have thereby been reduced?
§ Dr. DunwoodyIt is true that he has spent the larger part of the last two years as an in-patient in a psychiatric unit. Of the services available at present those that were provided for him were the most appropriate. I hope that the new facilities will prove to be even more appropriate.