§ Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health, in view of the general rule that mental patients are not discharged from mental hospitals unless they have friends and a home to receive them, how many patients are without these essentials.
176Wthe difference in period between different types of bed any such average would he misleading.
convenient date, the number of staffed beds, excluding mental and mental deficiency beds, in and the population served by each region.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe information is set out in the table below:
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThere is no such general rule.
§ Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health if he will arrange as soon as practicable for a survey to be taken to ascertain the number of patients under the Lunacy Act, 1890, in designated 177W mental hospitals who could be discharged if suitable accommodation with the necessary care and attention could be found for them from other sources.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNo. I do not consider that, at any rate in present circumstances, the practical value of such a survey would be commensurate with the considerable amount of work involved.
§ Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health in how many cases the survey in 1954 revealed that mental patients were suitable for discharge if friends or relatives with suitable accommodation could be found; and what was the average number of mental patients in designated mental hospitals in that year.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe information examined in 1954 did not differentiate patients suitable for discharge to friends or relatives with suitable accommodation from those suitable for other types of accommodation. The average number of patients resident in designated mental hospitals during 1954 was 147,078.
§ Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health the number of certified patients admitted to mental hospitals under the Lunacy Act, 1890, in the years 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956, and 1957, respectively.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe number of admissions of certified patients to the designated mental hospitals were as follows:
Year Admissions 1948 … … … 17,203 1950 … … … 18,891 1952 … … … 19,409 1954 … … … 19,339 1956 … … … 16,904 The figure for 1948 excludes admissions to Public Health General Hospitals and Public Assistance Institutions.
Figures for 1957 are not yet available.