§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate each regional health authority's share of the capital sums allocated since 1976 for the establishment of regional interim secure psychiatric units; and what use, in detail, each regional health authority has made of the money.
§ Mr. Moyle:Central capital funds are not normally made available for interim units. In 1976–77 Yorkshire regional health authority was allocated £40,000 to meet capital expenditure on interim regional secure facilities at Lynfield Mount hospital, Bradford—£15,000—and Stanley Royd hospital, Wakefield—£25,000.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why he is continuing to allocate money to regional health authorities for the establishment of regional secure psychiatric units when they have not used the money to date for that purpose;
(2) how 60 per cent. of the special revenue allocated to regional health authorities for 1977–78 was spent on the provision of staffing of intensive secure units in the absence of a single regional interim secure psychiatric unit;
(3) if he will indicate each regional health authority's share of the £17.7 million revenue allocation made since 1976 for regional secure psychiatric units; and what use in detail each regional health authority has made of the money.
§ Mr. Moyle:The distribution of the £5.2 million in 1976–77 and the recurrent amounts for subsequent years totalling 287W £17–7 million is shown below. The amounts for 1977.78 and 1978.79 were not separately identified in each region's allocation; the figures shown for these years are revaluations of the 1976.77 distribution.
£'000 RHA 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 Northern 347 400 434 Yorkshire 398 459 497 Trent 510 588 637 East Anglian 201 232 251 NW Thames 386 445 482 NE Thames 415 479 519 SE Thames 403 465 504 SW Thames 325 375 406 Wessex 296 342 370 Oxford 246 284 308 South Western 352 406 440 West Midlands 582 672 728 Mersey 280 323 350 North Western 459 530 574 Total 5,200 6,000 6,500 On the use made in 1976–77 by health authorities of the special revenue allocations, I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to him and to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Thomas) on 28th July 1977—[Vol. 936, c. 611–12.] The following is the information for 1977–78:
Regional Health Authority
Northern—£310,000 spent on improving facilities in mental hospitals for the care of unpredictable or potentially violent patients.
Yorkshire—£86,000 on permanent facilities—staff recruitment and training—£27,000 on interim facilities at Lynfield Mount, Scalebor Park and Stanley Royd hospitals; £150,000—together with other available resources—to assist start on psychiatric-geriatric unit.
Trent—Non-recurrent allocations totalling £445,000 made for improving mental hospitals throughout the Region.
East Anglia—52,000 for interim secure facilities at Little Plumstead hospital. Balance allocated to AHAs for items in psychiatric hospitals to achieve minimum standards.
NW Thames—£150,000 spent on interim facilities at Leavesden hospital. Balance allocated to AHAs for psychiatric services.
NE Thames—Allocation distributed to AHAs to improve mental health services.
SE Thames—£75,000 spent on psychiatric staffing.
SW Thames—£20,000 on staff planning RSU. £338,000 on improving services in mental hospitals.
Wessex—£233,000 on interim unit at Knowle hospital, which the RHA propose should be extended to form the permanent unit.
288WOxford—Allocation retained in regional reserve.
South Western—Allocation is enabling AHA's to undertake mental health developments which otherwise would not be possible.
West Midlands—£55,000 on interim secure facilities and £13,000 for staff for secure facilities. £290,000 allocated to general psychiatric services.
Mersey—£178,400 on interim secure units at Rainhill, Parkside and West Cheshire hospitals.
North Western—£167,000 on interim secure unit at Prestwich hospital.
Special revenue allocations for secure psychiatric facilities are continuing to be made to regional health authorities so that funds are immediately available to authorities when they require them. Meanwhile, authorities not in a position to devote their whole allocation to secure psychiatric facilities have been urged to make good use of these funds for other short-term projects, and as far as possible on services for the mentally ill. My Department will continue to ask regional health authorities for regular reports on how the special allocations are being spent.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services where the interim secure psychiatric facilities providing 100 places are located.
§ Mr. Moyle:Designated interim secure psychiatric facilities are located as follows:
Region and Hospital
- Yorkshire
- Lynfield Mount
- Scalebor Park
- Storthes Hall
- Stanley Royd
- Trent
- Pastures
- Wessex
- Knowle
- Mersey
- Rainhill
- Parkside
- West Cheshire
- North Western
- Prestwich
- Calderstones
In addition, there are secure facilities for disturbed mentally handicapped patients at Aston Hall hospital—West 289W Midlands—Little Plumstead hospital—East Anglia—and Leavesden hospital—North-West Thames.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services which regional health authorities have not sent in plans for regional secure units.
§ Mr. Moyle:Plans for regional secure psychiatric units have not so far been submitted by the East Anglian, South-West Thames, North-West Thames and Oxford regional health authorities.