§ Mr. Palmerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the ratio of medical consultants to patients on an average basis at psychiatric hospitals in the counties of Bristol, Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall; and what are the comparable figures for psychiatric hospitals in the area of the Greater London Council.
§ Sir K. JosephConsultant staffing ratios for hospitals and units for the mentally ill and the mentally handicapped in the South Western Hospital Region—which includes Bristol, Devon and Cornwall, most of Somerset and a part of Dorset—and in the combined metropolitan hospital regions—which include the whole Greater London Council area—at 30th September 1971 were as follows:
South Western Region Combined Metropolitan Regions Consultants in Psychiatry per 100 resident patients: in mental illness hospitals and units: Provided by regional hospital boards 0.51 0.59 Provided by boards of governors 9.25 8.20 All hospitals and units 0.54 0.77 In mental handicap hospitals and units 0.16 0.25 Consultant/Patient ratios for individual hospitals with more than 200 beds were published in "The Facilities and Services of Psychiatric Hospitals in England and Wales, 1971 "(Statistical and Research Report Series, No. 5. HMSO).