§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will direct Scottish health boards(a) to ensure that every patient discharged from psychiatric units in their area has a care plan capable of being implemented and (b) to retain an adequate number of rehabilitation and long-stay psychiatric beds in their areas.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonIt is for the clinicians to assess the individual needs of patients and for those assessed as likely to benefit from care in the community, to decide with the local authorities how that care and accommodation are to be organised. Where social care and health care needs have been identified, discharge from a psychiatric unit only occurs following a full multi-disciplinary assessment and the pre-placement of a comprehensive package of support services to meet the person's assessed needs.
As regards national health service long stay provision, it is for individual health boards to determine the care needs for this population and to purchase accordingly.