§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services approximately what proportion of the departmental budget has been allocated to early detection and treatment of mental illness among adolescents.
§ Dr. OwenHealth service financial resources are not allocated in terms of clinical specialties. The proportion of such resources spent in practice on services to the mentally ill was estimated in 1973 to be about 13 per cent., but it is not possible to establish how much of this is spent on the early detection and treatment of mental illness in adolescents.
§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what current research projects affecting the mentally sick are wholly financed or have been given grants by or receive some financial support from her Department.
§ Dr. OwenDetails of my Department's current research and development programme are given in the Annual Report on Departmental Research and Development, a copy of which I am sending my hon. Friend, and its associated publication "Portfolio for Health", a copy of which is available in the Library. Since publication of those documents, the following projects concerning the mentally ill have been approved for financial support by my Department:
- 1. Study of continuous care: registration and follow up in the management of schizophrenics with the aim of preventing relapses and minimising disability.
- 2. Day hospitals as an alternative to inpatient psychiatric treatment. The aim is to evaluate day hospital care as an alternative to in-patient treatment in the acute phase of psychiatric illness.
- 3. An evaluation of psychiatric services in Southampton.
- 4. Research into operant behaviour modification techniques. A study of the value of specific therapeutic techniques in the care and treatment of disturbed and long term patients.
- 5. Studies based on the Mapperly psychiatric case register.
- 6. The rôle of psychiatric assessment and prediction in medical and surgical outpatient clinics.
376 - 7. Community psychiatric nursing project. The object of the research is to establish if the provision of a psychiatric community nursing service leads to a more effective rehabilitation and maintenance programme for patients outside the hospital, as compared with a control group who have not received this service.
- 8. Research fellowship—nursing and midwifery investigation into one aspect of schizophrenia.
Studies in the field of mental illness are carried out in a number of hospitals financed through the National Health Service.
In addition new arrangements are currently being made for the commissioning of biomedical research, which will include research relevant to mental health, from the Medical Research Council, from funds transferred to my Department under the provisions of the White Paper "Framework for Government Research and Development" (Cmnd. 5046); and transitional arrangements include the assumption of finding responsibility for some current programmes.
§ Mr. Arnold Shawasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what special financial help was paid to local authorities with greatly above average incidence of mental illness in the years 1965 to 1970.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what special financial help was paid out to local authorities with above average incidence of mental illness in the years 1960 to 1965.
§ Dr. OwenNo powers existed under the Local Government Acts 1958 and 1966 to make such specific grants to local authorities.
§ Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the fact that since the reorganisation of the social services the quality of after-care for the mentally ill has deteriorated and is a matter of concern within the social work profession, she will undertake an urgent review of this aspect of social service.
§ Dr. OwenThe transition to the new pattern of services provided by local authority social services departments has, 377W I recognize, been a difficult process, but I have no evidence of a general deterioration in the quality of after-care for the mentally ill.