§ Mr. Warrenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will institute an inquiry into the dispersal of former mental hospital patients from London to seaside towns.
§ Mr. WhitneyWe have no plans to institute such an inquiry. We are aware that some local authorities in the south-east have expressed concern at the numbers of former patients being discharged from distant mental illness and mental handicap hospitals into their areas, but we have had no direct representations from those authorities; nor have we had any indication of the numbers of people involved or of their current degree of dependency. If we receive evidence suggesting that a particular hospital is acting less than responsibly in the discharge of long-stay patients, we will look into the situation.