§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) in-patients and (b) in-patient beds there are in psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales; how many individuals serving prison sentences have been diagnosed with severe mental health problems; and if he will make a statement. [138450]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThere were 178,065 admissions to National Health Service inpatient facilities under mental illness specialties in 2001–02, the latest year for which figures are available. The data has not been grossed for coverage and therefore has a provisional status.
Information about the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals in England is not available. However, the average daily number of mental illness beds for England in 2002–03 was 32,753. Questions about Wales are now matters for the devolved administration.
We cannot say precisely how many sentenced prisoners have been diagnosed with severe mental health problems. Based on data from a survey of mental ill-health in the prison population of England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics, the NHS Plan (2000) stated that at any time some 5,000 people with a serious mental illness will be in prison.
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