HC Deb 17 February 1988 vol 127 cc639-40W
Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his current estimate of the total number of people certified as schizophrenics.

Mrs. Currie

[holding answer 16 February 1988]: People have not been certified under mental health legislation since 1959. A proportion of the people detained annually under the Mental Health Act 1983 have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but our statistics at present do not show the number with that diagnosis who are currently detained in hospital. New information systems in the NHS will provide such statistics as from 31 March 1988.

NHS Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers at 30 September
Whole-time equivalent1
Health Authorities 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Northern Region
Hartlepool 30 30 30 30 31
North Tees 50 50 53 50 48
South Tees 72 76 75 73 75
East Cumbria 33 33 32 33 32
South Cumbria 29 30 31 29 29
West Cumbria 27 29 28 28 31
Darlington 33 34 34 32 31
Durham 35 35 34 36 35
North West Durham 24 24 25 26 24
South West Durham 21 23 22 24 25
Northumberland 37 38 39 40 41
Gateshead 42 43 44 45 48
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (T) 268 277 282 279 273
North Tyneside 26 26 29 28 30
South Tyneside 33 34 36 36 39
Sunderland 69 71 71 76 77
RHA HA and HQ units 69 67 63 68 67
Regional Totals 897 918 926 931 934
Yorkshire Region
Hull 96 97 96 96 93
East Yorkshire 28 30 29 28 30

submitted to the Department show expenditure on hospitals of different types and costing returns in respect of community health services show expenditure relating to the areas of activity only.

Hospital cost returns submitted by district health authorities in the North Western region, since their establishment on 1 April 1982, show total current expenditure on hospitals categorised as mental illness as follows (Districts having no hospitals in this category have been excluded):