§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what resources and grants he has made available for the establishment of intermediate treatment centres in each of the last five years.
§ Sir George YoungKnown expenditure on intermediate treatment—IT—in each of the last five years in England has been as follows:
light of local needs. The overall position has improved considerably since 1969 when there was only one psychologist per 1,040 patients, one speech therapist per 3,130 patients, and one qualified physiotherapist per 1,520 patients in mental handicap hospitals. The number of staff entering each of these professions is continuing to rise. I am particularly concerned to reach the general target for speech therapists set in 1969 by the Quirk report on speech therapy services (2,500–3,500 speech therapists in Great Britain by 1992). The Department is encouraging people to enter the training courses, and I am pleased to say that progress towards this target is satisfactory. As regards nurse recruitment, the Department spent approximately £900,000 last financial year on general nursing 179W recruitment publicity, some 50 per cent. of which was directed towards mental handicap and mental illness nursing, and similar expenditure is planned this year. The Department also encourages medical recruitment to shortage specialties, including mental handicap, by publicising the career opportunities in these.