§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children under the age of 16 years have been admitted to long-stay hospitals in each regional health authority in the last 12 months.
§ Mr. John PattenOn the assumption that the hon. Member is referring to admissions to mental handicap hospitals, the latest available information is given in the following table. This covers all mental handicap hospitals and NHS units. The figures include a considerable number of admissions for short periods for family relief, assessment and/or treatment.
Admissions of Children Aged Under 16 to Mental Handicap Hospitals and Units in England in 1972 Regional Health Authority Number Northern 1,000 Yorkshire 604 Trent 1,468 East Anglian 469 N.W. Thames 236 N.E. Thames 244 S.E. Thames 906 S.W. Thames 202 Wessex 1,059 Oxford 931 South Western 1,157 West Midlands 1,478 Mersey 68 North Western 432 Total 10,254
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children under the age of 16 years who were previously resident in long-stay subnormality hospitals have been discharged in each regional health authority since 1980.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available information is given in the table. This covers all mental handicap hospitals and NHS units as such hospitals and units are not classified by the length of time patients stay. The figures include discharges of children admitted for short periods as well as those who had been long-term residents.
719W
Discharges of children aged under 16 from mental handicap hospitals and units in England Regional Health Authority 1980 1981 1982 Northern 933 1,029 1,004 Yorkshire 411 502 585 Trent 1,198 1,419 1,462 East Anglian 533 463 459 NW Thames 232 189 237 NE Thames 330 271 235 SE Thames 649 850 902 SW Thames 242 193 205 Wessex 637 792 1,030 Oxford 687 814 904
Regional Health Authority 1980 1981 1982 South Western 667 929 1,136 West Midlands 1,011 1,149 1,450 Mersey 150 86 73 North Western 358 301 425 Totals 8,038 8,987 10,107
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many schemes have been approved under the pound-for-pound matching funds for voluntary organisations to establish projects for transferring mentally handicapped children out of long-stay hospitals: and how many children these involve;
(2) if he will extend the pound-for-pound matching funds scheme for voluntary organisations to establish projects for transferring children out of long-stay hospitals.
§ Mr. John PattenSeven schemes have so far been approved which will eventually enable over 60 children to leave hospital. Funds are still available under the scheme and voluntary organisations are invited to submit further projects. There is therefore no need to extend the scheme at present.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much additional funding has been made available for bringing children out of long-stay hospitals since the publication of the consultative document "Care in the Community" in 1981.
§ Mr. John PattenIn addition to finance which health authorities may provide from within their normal allocations, a sum of £9 million has been made available over a period of three years to help health authorities get mentally handicapped children out of long-stay hospitals and a total of £1 million is available to voluntary organisations over a four year period for capital expenditure to match on a pound-for-pound basis funds they raise for the same purpose. In addition, some £100 million joint finance has been made available in 1984–85 to develop community based services in general.