To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons he intends to move 400 patients from high security hospitals to prison settings by 2004. [130328]

Paragraph 14.35 of the NHS Plan said that by 2004 up to 400 patients should have moved from the high security hospitals to more appropriate accommodation. A programme is under way aimed at moving up to 400 patients from high security hospitals to more appropriate accommodation by 2004.It is intended that the patients concerned should move to less secure hospitals or other suitable settings rather than to prisons. The programme has been initiated to address the problem of patients remaining in high security hospitals for longer than safety and security considerations dictate, which is an infringement of human rights and wasteful of scarce resources. The movement out of inappropriately placed patients will also facilitate the admission of people who do need high security care and treatment, including prisoners requiring transfer.