Lord Bownessasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many absconders there have been from the Dennis Hill unit at Bethlem Hospital site in the last three years. [HL5350]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)Since 1999, there have been a total of 10,800 episodes (episodes means that there could be more than one absconsion by the same person) of leave from the Dennis Hill Unit, which means that 99.93 per cent of patients' leave (excluding the absconsions) has passed, been approved and undertaken in line with the trust's policy.
Since the creation of South London and Maudsley NHS Trust on 1 April 1999, only 0.7 per cent of the total number of absconsions were classed as unauthorised.