§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will encourage local authority social service departments to provide funds for the rehabilitation of sufferers from severe amnesia;
(2) whether any residential accommodation is provided by the National Health Service for those suffering from severe amnesia;
(3) if he will request the National Health Service regions to assess the adequacy of their provision for those suffering from severe amnesia; and if he will encourage the establishment of regional centres;
(4) what information he has on (a) the number of cases of severe amnesia that occur annually and (b) the National Health Service provision for such cases.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 2 April 1987, c. 619]: Severe amnesia can be a symptom of a range of medical conditions, including head injury and Alzheimer's disease. The National Health Service organises its services to treat medical conditions rather than specific symptoms. There is, therefore, no special provision, nor have we any plans to provide any, for treating severe amnesia or accommodating patients with this condition separately. Patients may be treated in a number of settings such as neurological, mental illness or geriatric units. Similar considerations apply to the provision of social services to people suffering from severe amnesia by local authorities. We do not collect statistics from either health or local authorities on severe amnesia.