§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue formal guidance to health authorities regarding the admission of young people to psychiatric care following the report on young people entering psychiatric care published by the Children's Society.
§ Mr. DorrellThe NHS management executive recently issued guidance on the welfare of children and young people in hospital—HSG(91)1—a copy of which is 115W available in the Library. This includes good practice on admissions and, in particular, commends the accommoda-tion of children in designated children's units separate from adults, the involvement of parents and carers in the treatment of their children and recognition of the rights of children to information about their treatment. The guide explicitly states that these principles apply whenever a child is admitted to hospital. The code of practice issued under section 118 of the Mental Health Act 1983, a copy of which is also available in the Library, provides guidance on the application of that Act to patients under the age of 18, including admission procedures.
§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will conduct an investigation into the reasons why health authorities are failing to keep accurate records of the number of young people admitted to psychiatric care.
§ Mr. DorrellIt is for district health authorities to maintain the statistics they require for the proper management of the services for which they are responsible. The Department is currently reviewing its information strategies in order to establish central requirements for data and will be seeking to identify any significant gaps in current data collection.