HL Deb 29 July 2002 vol 638 cc151-2WA
Lord Lucas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the draft Mental Health Bill, for the most recent period for which data are available on which reasonable estimates can be based, (a) what number of patients would fall under Clause 6(4) of that Bill; (b) what illnesses would they be diagnosed with and in what numbers; (c) what classes of treatment are available for those illnesses; and (d) what plans there are to refer those treatments to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for its consideration. [HL5449]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Nobody will be subject to compulsory treatment under the Bill's proposals who does not meet all the conditions for compulsion. It is not a question of different people being treated under different conditions.

(a) The best estimate of the number of patients who could be so dealt with can be derived from the latest statistics of the number of inpatients detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983. This bulletin is prepared by the Government Statistical Service and was last published in October 2001.

We should add to this the estimate of people who are dangerous by virtue of severe personality disorder and who could he treated under the Bill but could fall outside the scope of the 1983 Act. This estimate is derived from the Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of Prisoners (1997). The estimate is that 124 such people might be dealt with per annum under the Bill.

(b) It is estimated that in total 26,774 people per annum coud be made subject to compulsory treatment under the Bill. This is based on experience of the operation of the 1983 Act; 26,650 formal admissions to hospital were recorded in 2000–01; and the estimate of the number of people who are dangerous by virtue of severe personality disorder and who could be treated under the Bill but who could fall outside the scope of the 1983 Act.

We do not expect any significant change in the diagnosis of mental disorder under which people meet the conditions. It is likely, however, that the number of people with a primary diagnosis of personality disorder treated under the powers of the Bill will be higher than those of the 1983 Act.

At 31 March 2001, 13,829 people were detained. The break-down by mental disorder was:

  • Mental illness: 11,164
  • Psychopathic disorders: 698
  • Mental impairment: 842
  • Severe mental impairment: 166
  • Not specified: 959

(c) The same classes of treatment will be available for patients who fall within the scope of the draft Bill as to those that are available for all other patients with mental disorders.

(d) The same procedure for referring treatments to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence will apply to all treatments that may be provided to patients with mental disorders.