§ Mr. John Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Wales when the hospital check list system was applied to institutions for the mentally handicapped in Wales; how it is working; and why it was not extended to all mental institutions.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsHealth authority chairmen agreed in principle in December 1978 to implement for an experimental period in all their mental illness and mental handicap institutions the model standards document and the check lists included in the report of the working party on standards of care for mentally ill and mentally handicapped patients which was presented to the right hon. and learned Member in July 1978. The documents are a tool for local management and it is for health authorities to ensure that action is taken as necessary in the light of their use. For this reason, authorities were invited to adapt them to local circumstances, provided that their principal purposes were not diluted. I understand that authorities have found them on the whole useful. The Welsh Office is to review their operation in the coming months to see whether, in the light of experiences they need to be amended.