§ 8. Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many long-stay patients there are in mental hospitals in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Chris PattenAt 31 December 1982, 2,825 patients in Northern Ireland's psychiatric hospitals had been there for one year or more.
§ Mr. BerminghamDoes the Minister agree that there is a correlation between stress and mental illness? Bearing in mind the increasingly stressful situation in Northern Ireland, is it not time that further resources were devoted to that area of medicine to provide for those who ate suffering as a result of the troubles over there?
§ Mr. PattenWe have been putting more resources into that area, particularly to enable more people to go back into the community. That is why, for example, we have increased the number of statutory community hostel places, and why, over the past three years, we have increased the number of community psychiatric nurses by 50 per cent. We want to build on those foundations.