§ Mr. Mayhewasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recommendations for release from mental health review tribunals for patients in psychiatric hospitals he has refused since the coming into force of the Mental Health Act 1959.
§ Mr. CarlisleFifty-seven.
§ Dr. Stuttafordasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the report by Sir Carl Aarvold, Professor Sir Denis Hill and Mr. G. P. Newton on procedures for the discharge of mental patients subject to special restrictions will be published; and if he will make a statement.
111W
§ Mr. R. CarrThe report is being published today as a Command paper. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services and I accept in principle the recommendations made in the report, for which we wish to thank the three advisers, and we shall give effect to them as speedily as practicable. The recommendations include the establishment of an independent board to advise me on the suitability for discharge, or transfer from a special hospital to a National Health Service hospital, of patients whose cases present particular difficulty. A working party is being set up to define the criteria for the identification of these cases. Consultations will be necessary with professional bodies about the implementation of some of the other recommendations, but we hope that the new procedures will be fully operative by the summer.