§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what are the latest figures of the number of locked wards in each health region; and how many mentally ill and mentally handicapped people are on closed wards;
(2) how many places he envisages regional secure units will eventually provide; and when he foresees all of these places being provided;
(3) if he will provide a breakdown by regional health authority of how many beds are available in each interim or fully operational regional secure unit; and whether all the beds are filled;
(4) which regional health authorities have medium secure units; when they opened; and whether they are interim units or fully operational units;
(5) whether all health regions have submitted acceptable plans for a medium secure unit; and when building will be completed.
§ Mr. John PattenAll regional health authorities are now providing secure facilities of one kind or another. Six regions now have permanent regional secure units in operation, as follows:
Information on the numbers of currently staffed and available beds, numbers of beds occupied by patients, and dates of opening of designated interim secure units, is not held centrally.
In addition to the places provided in permanent and interim secure units, regions showed on their RSU returns in September 1983 about 900 further beds, which they regarded for this purpose as contributing to their regional secure provision, in other types of secure facilities in NHS hospitals — including special care and lockable wards. The number of beds currently occupied in these facilities is not collected centrally.
I am sending the hon. Member a summary of the latest RSU returns from regions showing all the above beds, which I hope he will find helpful. I am also sending the hon. Member a general statistical return which shows the total number of NHS beds available at the end of 1982 in wards which are recorded as either permanently or sometimes locked. (Beds in secure units and other secure facilities are included in these overall totals.)
All regions have now submitted acceptable plans for at least one permanent regional secure unit. Regions present 413W firm plans include about 700 places in permanent regional secure units, all of which should be provided by the end of 1986. By that time a number of other units are likely to be at various stages of construction and planning.
The Glancy report tentatively envisaged a total of 1,000 beds, but as the programme develops plans can increasingly be influenced upwards or downwards by actual demand on the places available in the interim and permanent units open, and by evidence from research studies.
§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report a breakdown of the expenditure by the Oxford regional health authority of the total capital and revenue receipt allocated for the provision of a regional secure psychiatric unit; and, of the amounts allocated, if he will give a breakdown of the region's expenditure on security in psychiatric hospitals and expenditure on other psychiatric services.
§ Mr. John PattenOxford regional health authority's recurrent regional secure unit revenue allocations, since 1976–77, were:
£000's 1976–77 A 246 B — C — 1977–78 A 284 B — C — 1978–79 A 308 B — C 308 1979–80 A 330 B — C 173 1980–81 A 445 B 269 C 176 1981–82 A 480 B 292 C 188 1982–83 A 510 B 335 C 175 1983–84 A 535 B 379 C 156 A=RSU Central Revenue Allocations B=Expenditure on Security in Psychiatric Hospitals C=Expenditure on Other Psychiatric Services Revenue allocation of £555,000 has been made available, for 1984–85. A breakdown of this amount is not yet available.
Capital funds are made available, to health authorities, for building of approved permanent regional secure units as the costs are incurred. We have given our approval to the RHA to proceed with its plans for the development of a regional secure unit at Borocourt hospital, Reading. No capital costs have so far been incurred by the Oxford RHA in respect of this unit.