HC Deb 25 March 1976 vol 908 cc290-1W
Mr. Parkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many day hospitals for the mentally ill in England and Wales meet and how many do not meet the design guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Security in Hospital Building Note No. 35, December 1973.

Dr. Owen

The design guidance in Hospital Building Note 35 relates to the general hospital psychiatric unit in its function as the centre of specialist psychiatric treatment of mental illness for adults from its district, containing inpatient accommodation and combining day hospital facilities for the inpatient as well as for patients attending by day from the community. The design guidance is thus not directly relevant to separate day hospitals, though many of the general principles of course apply. The general intention of the Building Note is to give guidance, to be constrained within cost limits, on design features and building planning policies rather than to lay down mandatory standards. Central information is not available on the individual design of existing day hospitals.

Mr. Parkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many small long-stay units have been established for the elderly severely mentally infirm in England and Wales;

(2) when the detailed guidance on the design of long-stay accommodation and day hospitals for the elderly severely mentally infirm in England and Wales will be published.

Dr. Owen

The small long-stay units for elderly severely mentally infirm patients, referred to in the White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Ill" (Cmnd. 6233), will generally be situated within community hospitals and will be established as health authorities begin to develop their community hospital programmes. It is hoped to provide authorities shortly with specimen schedules of accommodation for the facilities to be provided in community hospitals, including in-patient and day hospital units for the elderly severely mentally infirm.

Dental (Thousands: Great Britain) Optical
In receipt of Family Income Supplement or Supplementary Benefit Not in receipt of Family Income Supplement or Supplementary Benefit In receipt of Family Income Supplement or Supplementary Benefit Not in receipt of Family Income Supplement or Supplementary Benefit
1970 232 25 563 51
1971 288 86 637 144
1972 323 118 646 162
1973 306 104 626 144
To October 1974 254 80 507 112

Family Income Supplement was introduced in August 1971.

In November 1974 responsibility for remission arrangements passed from the Supplementary Benefits Commission to the individual Health Departments and the statistics have subsequently been

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