§ 33. Sir Geoffrey PattieTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake an urgent review of the current and planned pace of rundown of mental illness hospitals.
§ Mr. FreemanIt is for health authorities to determine the pace of rundown of the old, large and often remote mental illness hospitals, which should be matched by the development of comprehensive locally-based psychiatric services.
As indicated by my hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Health in his reply to my hon. Friend on 16 December 1988 at column 766, the annual review process provides Ministers with the opportunity to assess the performance of each regional health authority in matching the development of locally-based services against the rundown of older hospitals. In addition, I shall be meeting some of the individual regional and district health authorities most affected during the course of the year to review specific aspects of this transfer to locally-based care.