§ Ms ChurchTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the long-term effects of the use of ECT, with particular reference to children. [28050]
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§ Mr. BowisThe main agency through which the Government support bio-medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. There has been a considerable volume of research of the efficacy of electro-convulsive therapy for different patient groups and this research has confirmed that ECT is a very effective treatment of some clinical conditions, and has made it clear which conditions are best treated by ECT. An unpublished survey in 1992 by the child and adolescent section of the Royal College of Psychiatrists recorded that ECT was used very rarely on those under the age of 18 and only where patients were very ill indeed. Such a low rate of treatment means that conducting any controlled trials would be impossible.
§ Ms ChurchTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what(a) information and (b) statistics his Department compiles on the use of ECT (i) in psychiatric hospitals and (ii) on children. [28049]
§ Mr. BowisInformation on the number of administrations of electro-convulsive therapy is not available centrally.