§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state the numbers of patients for whom sleeping accommodation was provided at Broadmoor Hospital, when it was constructed, the date of construction and the number of persons now using that accommodation; and what plans he has for extension or replacement of that hospital, their cost and when they were first proposed.
§ Sir K. JosephWhen Broadmoor opened in 1863 there was accommodation for 400 men and 100 women but subsequent building increased the accommodation. By current standards, however, the number of patients which it would be desirable to accommodate in the hospital would be about 500 men and 150 women. On 1st June there were 710 men and 120 women patients.
In autumn 1967 it was decided that a new 400-bed special hospital should be built at Maghull, Liverpool, and that as soon as patients had been moved into it, Broadmoor should be rebuilt with about 500–550 beds. Detailed planning for the new hospital started in 1970 following a public inquiry and is now well advanced, and work has started on an advance unit. Preliminary planning for the rebuilding of Broadmoor has started. It is expected 29W that the new hospital at Maghull will cost about £6½ million but no estimate of the cost of rebuilding Broadmoor can yet be made.