HC Deb 09 November 1953 vol 520 c14W
Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Health to give, separately, the number of people in the country as a whole, and the number in Kent, who are on waiting lists for admission into institutions for the mentally sick; and when they are expected to be admitted.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Figures for persons suffering from mental illness are not available, since waiting occurs only in relation to voluntary admissions and waiting lists are not normally kept. The numbers of mentally defective patients on local health authority waiting lists on 1st January last were for England and Wales as a whole—3,527 urgent and 5,461 non-urgent; for Kent 124 and 168, respectively. Admission is arranged according to urgency, and no date can be given when all patients will have been admitted.