HC Deb 14 December 1994 vol 251 cc683-5W
Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional services are available to someone placed on a supervision register.

Mr. Bowis

Supervision registers are designed to help local services identify those patients who should receive the greatest priority for care and treatment. Whether an individual placed on a register requires additional services is a matter for clinical or professional judgment in each case.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision exists for advising individuals(a) of their inclusion on a supervision register and (b) that information from the supervision register has been given to a third party.

Mr. Bowis

The guidelines on the introduction of registers make clear that patients who are placed on the supervision register should be informed orally and in writing at the time. They should be told why they are on the register, how the information on the register will be used and to whom that information may be disclosed.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what organisations have made representations regarding supervision registers for the mentally ill; and if she will list those which are in favour and those against.

Mr. Bowis

The Department consulted a number of organisations and individuals in the statutory and voluntary sector on the draft guidelines on the introduction of supervision registers and received a number of very helpful comments. Those who were consulted officially are shown in the table. Of those consulted only two organisations were against registers in principle, namely MIND and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities.

Organisations and individuals consulted over the draft guidelines on the introduction of supervision registers

  • Afro-Caribbean Mental Health Association
  • National Schizophrenia Fellowship

MIND

MINDLINK

  • Mental Health Foundation
  • Manic Depression Fellowship

SANE

  • Survivors Speak Out
  • United Kingdom Advocacy Network
  • Richmond Fellowship
  • Good Practices in Mental Health
  • Mental Health Act Commission
  • Royal College of General Practitioners
  • Royal College of Psychiatrists
  • Community Psychiatric Nurses Association
  • Royal College of Nurses
  • British Psychological Society
  • College of Occupational Therapists
  • Association of Metropolitan Authorities
  • Association of County Councils
  • Association of District Councils
  • Association of Directors of Social Services
  • London Boroughs Association
  • British Association of Social Workers
  • Special Hospitals SHSA
  • Association of Chief Officers of Probation
  • Data Protection Registrar
  • National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts
  • Institute of Health Services Management

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring is being carried out on the operation of supervision registers for the mentally ill.

Mr. Bowis

It is the responsibility of health authorities to ensure that mental health service providers with which they contract establish and maintain supervision registers. Progress on the implementation of supervision registers is being monitored closely by the National Health Service Executive.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what external advice she has received on the legality of supervision registers for the mentally ill.

Mr. Bowis

None. We are satisfied as to their legality.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cost of setting up the supervision registers; and what the sources of funding have been.

Mr. Bowis

Supervision registers are an integral part of the care programme approach which was introduced in April 1991. The additional administrative costs involved in the introduction of supervision registers should be minimal and will be met from existing resources.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances the contents of a supervision register can be passed to the police.

Mr. Bowis

Supervision registers are health records. As with other health records, information should be disclosed to a third party such as the police without the patient's consent only if that disclosure can be justified in the public interest.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions exist for the review of or appeal against placement on a supervision register for the mentally ill.

Mr. Bowis

Patients who are placed on a supervision register can request a review to consider their withdrawal from the register. If the patient remains dissatisfied with the outcome of that review the normal channels of complaint and the right to a clinical second opinion apply.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people she expects to be placed on supervision registers for the mentally ill.

Mr. Bowis

Before the deadline for full implementation of registers it was estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 people nationally were likely to be placed on registers. Early indications are that the estimate was correct.