§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will initiate a public inquiry into the standards of care in mental illness and mental handicap hospitals in the National Health Service.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo. Health authorities are responsible for the maintenance and monitoring of standards of care in all their hospitals, including mental illness and mental handicap hospitals. They can be assisted in this task if they choose by the development team for the mentally handicapped. They are also assisted by the health advisory service whose reports the Government recently decided to publish in future save in exceptional cases.