HL Deb 04 July 1961 vol 232 cc1259-60
BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGER

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government if they will give for each hospital region the number of mentally disordered persons who have been admitted to hospital on an informal basis and the number admitted on a compulsory basis since the coming into force of the Mental Health Act, 1959.]

LORD NEWTON

My Lords, again I regret that only the figures for November and December, 1960, are available, and, with the noble Lady's permission, I will circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT. The totals for England and Wales for the two months are: informal admissions, 19,523; and compulsory admissions, 4,901.

BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGER

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that information. I think I must withhold further questions until we have later figures.

LORD TAYLOR

My Lords, would the noble Lord think that the compulsory figure is still rather high, in view of the fact that many hospitals manage to do without any compulsory admissions at all?

LORD NEWTON

My Lords, I think it is rather early to attempt to make any comparisons with earlier years, but I can tell the noble Lord that of the 4,901 compulsory admissions during the two months, 4,127 were for observation—that is to say, for periods not exceeding 28 days—and only 774 were for longer periods of treatment.

BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGER

My Lords, is the noble Lord able to say whether the proportion of compulsory admissions is going up?

LORD NEWTON

No, my Lords. It is much too early to form any idea of that one way or the other.

FOLLOWING ARE THE FIGURES OF MENTALLY DISORDER PERSONS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1960
Region Admitted Informally Admitted Compulsorily
Newcastle 1,266 259
Leeds 1,302 279
Sheffield 1,431 406
East Anglia 579 136
N.W. Metropolitan 1,440 414
N.E. Metropolitan 1,111 218
S.E. Metropolitan 1,606 353
S.W. Metropolitan 2,695 538
Oxford 520 129
South West 1,271 308
Wales 1,158 235
Birmingham 1,891 505
Manchester 1,397 314
Liverpool 1,020 533
Wessex 836 255
Special Hospitals — 19
19,523 4,901