§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on diagnoses of mental illness among the prison population(a) before and (b) after entering prison; what percentage included schizophrenic psychoses; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggInformation available is as follows.
A census taken by prison medical officers on 1 October 1986 of sentenced inmates serving six months and over showed that there were 329 who were considered to require specialist therapeutic facilities by reason of mental illness.
Figures from the latest returns of the number of inmates considered to be suffering from mental disorder of a type or degree such that they would be detainable under the Mental Health Act 1983 are included in the medical statistics on page 69 of the report on the work of the prison service 1986/87 (Cm. 246), a copy of which is in the Library. They show that on 31 March 1987 there were 240 (95 sentenced, 145 unsentenced) diagnosed as mentally ill.