HC Deb 08 December 1982 vol 33 cc539-40W
Mr. Foulkes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of patients in Scottish mental hospitals were detained compulsorily in each of the past 10 years.

Mr. John MacKay

The percentage of patients admitted to Scottish mental hospitals in each year since 1970 who were initially admitted under compulsory powers was as follows:

Mental Illness Hospital and Psychiatric Units Per cent. Mental Handicap Hospitals per cent.
1970 10.2 7.4
1971 10.0 7.2
1972 9.3 7.5
1973 9.5 6.5
1974 9.4 5.9
1975 9.3 6.4
1976 9.7 4.4
1977 9.7 5.1
1978 9.7 5.6
1979 9.4 3.0
1980* 9.5 2.5
* Provisional Data.

Source: Scottish Mental Health In-Patient Statistics MHSA 2/083. In Mental Handicap Hospitals, uneven incidence of holiday admissions tends to distort the figures.

Mr. Foulkes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what special provision exists in each of the Scottish region and island authorities for care of mentally ill people within the community or as a transition between hospital care and return to the normal home environment.

Mr. John MacKay

The following table gives the level of residential accommodation for the mentally ill provided by regional and islands councils in Scotland; some homes are also provided by voluntary organisations:

Residential Accommodation at 31 March 1981
Regional and Islands Councils No. of Homes Bed Complement
Borders 8 30
Central 5 24
Dumfries and Galloway
Fife 10 59
Grampian 10 50
Highland 2 8
Residential Accommodation at 31 March 1981
Regional and Islands Councils No. of Homes Bed Complement
Lothian 7 73
Strathclyde 16 75
Tayside 15 94
Orkney
Shetland
Western Isles 1 5
Sub-total 74 418
Voluntary Organisations 3 48
Total 77 466

Facilities for accommodating former psychiatric patients are increasingly being provided by local authorities and by housing associations. Some day centres are also provided by local authorities. In addition to the pre-discharge halfway houses attached to mental illness hospitals, health boards provide further support through day hospitals and community psychiatric clinics.

Mr. Foulkes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths of patients detained in mental hospitals have occurred in each of the last 10 years; and how many have been recorded as suicides.

Mr. John MacKay

The number of detained patients who died in mental hospitals in each year since 1970 was as follows:

Year Number
1970 47
1971 50
1972 36
1973 21
1974 27
1975 15
1976 28
1977 6
1978 22
1979 22
*1980 30
* Provisional data.

Source: Scottish Mental Health In-Patient Statistics MHSA 2/084.

Information about the number of suicides within these figures is not available centrally.