§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what representations he has received about the provision of hypnotherapy by the National Health Service; and what response he has given;
(2) what organisations regulating the use of hypnotherapy are recognised by his Department; and what is his estimate of the number of recognised hypnotherapists in England and Wales.
§ Mrs. CurrieWe have received a representation proposing legislation to restrict the title of "hypnotherapist", and the practice of hypnotherapy, to members of certain professions, but this was not concerned with the National Health Service but with people who offer hypnotherapy privately.
I am aware that within the National Health Service a number of doctors, dentists and psychologists make use of hypnosis for different purposes, but they are employed as doctors, dentists and psychologists, and are regulated by their relative professional bodies.
The Department is aware of the existence of several organisations which offer training leading to some form of
Local authority and registered residential care homes for the elderly and disabled England Type of home Numbers of residents aged 65 and over1 Percentage change2 1979 1984 1985 1979 to 1985 1984 to 1985 Total 152,897 180,676 193,487 +26 +7 Local Authority 102,086 101,896 101,526 -1 — Voluntary 24,716 26,005 25,818 +4 -1 Private 26,095 52,675 66,143 +153 +26 1 as at 31 March 2 to nearest whole number
§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of places provided for the elderly in both public sector and privately-owned establishments in each of the last seven years.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 27 October 1986]: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to residential establishments rather than hospitals or nursing establishments. The available data are given in the table.
120W
Local authority and registered residential care homes for the elderly and disabled. Numbers of places England As at 31 March Total Local Authority Voluntary Private 1979 179,502 113,592 33,912 31,998 1980 184,824 114,103 34,957 35,764 1981 191,055 114,921 36,881 39,253 1982 196,582 115,493 36,743 44,346 1983 205,286 115,913 37,613 51,760 1984 217,744 116,430 38,242 63,072 1985 233,587 116,080 37,466 80,041 qualification in hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy, however, is not a registered profession and there is no officially recognised qualification.
There are no centrally collected figures, either of those using hypnotic techniques within the Health Service, or of those using them more generally.