HC Deb 16 February 1988 vol 127 cc541-2W
Mr. Steinberg

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to increase the provision of speech therapy in prisons.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Because of the limited and fluctuating demand for speech therapy the Prison Service's policy is to use the resources of the National Health Service rather than to employ its own therapists. Prison medical officers have discretion to refer patients to a local hospital in suitable circumstances or to arrange for a therapist to vist the establishment. There are no plans to change these arrangements.