§ 68. Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what number of psychiatric beds per 1,000 population he is now planning for by 1975.
§ Mr. AlisonI expect the number of beds for the mentally ill in 1975 to be approximately 2.4 per 1,000 population, assuming that numbers continue to fall by about 3,000 a year. I do not expect any significant change in this period in the number of beds for the mentally handicapped which are approximately 1.3 per 1,000 population. Our present planning for the longer-term future is based on transition to a different organisation of services for which many fewer hospital in-patient beds would eventually be needed.