§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many previous occasions Alvada Kooken has been allowed out of Broadmoor on day trips; how many of the current total number of patients have been allowed out in such circumstances during the last five years; what criteria are used in determining whether patients should enjoy this facility; what degree of supervision is applied in such cases; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 27 June 1986, c. 356]: Before the outing to Southsea on 23 June, Miss Kooken went on two day trips in 1982, two in 1983, three in 1984 and one in 1985. I regret that information about day trips by patients from the hospital is not available prior to 1982. For the years since then, details are available only of the number of day trips and the numbers of patients who went on each. Some patients will, of course, have gone on more than one outing, and some other patients who went on outings in the past will now have left the hospital or died.
The available information is as follows:
- 1982: 12 trips with a total of 171 patient places
- 1983: 12 trips with a total of 154 patient places
- 1984: 19 trips with a total of 271 patient places
- 1985: 8 trips with a total of 94 patient places
- 1986: 2 trips with a total of 35 patient places
(On 30 June 1986 there were 495 patients in Broadmoor Hospital.)
As regards the criteria applied in deciding whether patients should go on outings, factors considered include the likely therapeutic benefit to the patient in the context of his or her overall treatment programme and any possible risk to the public. The level of supervision varies according to the needs of the patient and the circumstances of the outing and is considered very carefully in each case.