§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has studied the evidence of the inquiry by the sheriff into the cause of death of Mr. David Nay, a patient at Liff hospital, Tayside; what assessment has been made of overcrowding at the hospital and the mixing of psychogeriatric and other patients; and if he will announce what help to Tayside health board by way of both capital and revenue finance he is prepared to make available to improve conditions at the hospital.
§ Mr. Harry EwingI would not normally see the evidence of a sheriff's inquiry but I have seen a full report on the circumstances of this case prepared by the Mental Welfare Commission.
At present, because of the pressures on accommodation, it is sometimes necessary to house patients of different categories together in a way that is far from ideal.
The Tayside health board is planning a development of 300 beds at the Royal Dundee Liff hospital which will replace the accommodation for psychogeriatric patients presently scattered throughout the hospital. The first phase of this development, consisting of two 30-bed ward units, which will ease the overcrowding situation in the centre division, is at an advanced stage of planning and is being financed under the major capital building programme announced in the House on 2 May 1977. Discussions have taken place on the possibility of enabling 305W the planning of a further 120 beds to proceed.
The health board decides how it uses the revenue allocation it receives each year under the formula recommended in the report "Scottish Health Authorities Revenue Equalisation".