§ Mr. Hicksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many non short-stay patients were in psychiatric hospitals on the most recent date for which statistics are available; and what proportion of this figure it is expected will be discharged or transferred to residential homes, hostels, and approved private accommodation, respectively, by 1977–78.
§ Mr. AlisonAt the end of 1970, patients who had been in hospitals three months or more numbered about 100.000 in mental illness hospitals and units and 56,000 in hospitals and units for the mentally handicapped.
No predictions can be made of the proportions of these likely in the next five years to be suitable for and discharged to other forms of care. Much will depend on the expansion, which is already under way, in residential and other services in the community. We shall shortly be asking local authorities to tell us about the rate at which they plan to improve these services over the next five to 10 years.