Psychiatric Units (Hansard, 21 February 1990)

§ Mr. Grist

Efforts to make the substantive progress in this area which I believe is necessary have been hampered by the difficulty of recruiting the necessary expert advisory staff. Now that appointments have been made of the consultant forensic psychiatrist (who is also co-ordinator of forensic psychiatric services and adviser to the chief medical officer) and the senior nurse adviser to the chief nursing officer of the Welsh Office, I propose to set up an all-Wales advisory group to determine a comprehensive policy for forensic psychiatric services in the Principality and to report as speedily as possible.

The remit of the group will be as follows: In the context of the document "Mental Illness Services—A Strategy for Wales" to develop an operational framework for the provision of a comprehensive forensic psychiatric service in Wales in the light of the needs of patients and the experience of health authorities in England of setting up similar services: identifying in particular the appropriate district and regional elements of the service, an operational policy and development programme for medium secure psychiatric units and the future role and functioning of Garth Angharad Hospital.

I shall shortly announce the membership of the group, which is to he chaired by an official of the Welsh Office NHS directorate, once consultations have been concluded.

I intend that the group should undertake its work quickly, but it is clear that it will be some time before its agreed recommendations can be implemented. I accept that further delay in providing facilities for mentally abnormal offenders in Wales is undesirable. I also note the recommendation in the third biennial report of the Mental Health Act Commission that interim arrangements should be established in Wales. This has also been recommended by the Department's specialist advisers. As a consequence, I propose that interim secure facilities should be established in north and south Wales and Clwyd and Mid Glamorgan health authorities have been invited to prepare proposals to that end. They will be assisted by the Department's specialist advisers and their proposals will be considered by the all-Wales advisory group. I have asked that, the practical arrangements including recruitment of staff permitting, efforts be made to admit the first patients in 1990–91. I do not propose to initiate any further work on the development of individual substantive medium secure psychiatric units, including a decision on provision in west Wales, or on the development of Garth Angharad hospital until the all-Wales advisory group's report is to hand.

It is my expectation, subject to consultation on the report of the all-Wales advisory group, that these interim secure arrangements will be subsumed within the framework of the comprehensive forensic psychiatric services which will be formulated by the advisory group and thereby enable us to provide in the Principality as speedily as possible a service of excellence based on the experience of best practice gained in other parts of the United Kingdom.