In England in 2007-08, the most recent year for which information is available, there were 28,100 compulsory admissions to hospital under the 1983 Act and about a further 19,500 detentions subsequent to informal admission.
In November 2006, the Minister’s predecessor gave an undertaking that within two years no child under 16 would be detained in adult psychiatric wards, and undertakings to that effect were given during discussion of the Mental Health Bill last year. Will the Minister guarantee that that pledge has now been fulfilled, two years on, and that improvements have been made so that children in appropriate child psychiatric wards can access education so that they do not fall behind with their studies during their illness?
In fact, two commitments were made at that time. The first was that within two years no one under 16 would be treated in an adult psychiatric ward and the second was that nobody under 18 would be in an age-inappropriate setting. The latest available figures, for April to June this year, show that there were only 16 bed days for under-16s on adult psychiatric wards—the lowest level since such data collection started in 2005. I shall certainly take away the hon. Gentleman’s comments about the education of young people in those settings.
Under the Government’s 10-year plan, mental health is meant to be a priority, along with cancer services and heart services. However, there is still growing evidence locally that money is being channelled into hospitals to meet the requirements of their plans, rather than into mental health services. What reassurance can my hon. Friend give me that that is being taken into account and that priority is being given to mental health services, as was stated in the 10-year plan?
I am pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that no less a body than the World Health Organisation praised the Government’s record on investing in mental health. We have one of the highest spends on mental health in Europe, and our spending on adult mental health services has increased by £1.7 billion in the past six years—a 44 per cent. real-terms increase for mental health services.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are now looking to the future and talking to key stakeholders about our New Horizons project for mental health services. We expect to publish proposals for that future direction for mental health services next spring.
Less money is spent on the mental health needs of East Riding of Yorkshire residents than on those of the residents of any other area in the country. Their primary care trust receives hundreds of pounds less per head for general health needs than do the constituents of the Secretary of State for Health, who live not very far away. The primary care trust in East Riding directs just 7 per cent. of its expenditure to mental health. That is about half the national average, so there is a double whammy for my constituents. What message can the Minister send to the managers of the PCT to ensure that my constituents get a decent and proper mental health service?
The obvious response is to advise the hon. Gentleman’s constituents to support Labour at a future general election. Since 1997, spending on the health service has increased up to £100 billion. We are very proud of that record, and I might say to him that it is a serious issue—
You should be ashamed of yourself.
The hon. Gentleman talks about being ashamed, but he should be ashamed of the fact that his party consistently voted in every Budget against our extra spending on the national health service.
My hon. Friend will be aware that people being sectioned are among the most vulnerable. I have always supported independent advocacy in such situations. I know that there has been an improvement, but I would like someone who is sectioned, as of right, to have access to an independent advocate. Does the Minister also aspire to that?
I am grateful for that thoughtful question. As my hon. Friend may know, from April 2009 we will give such people for the first time a statutory right to an independent mental health advocate. That builds on the excellent practice in some parts of the country of engaging non-statutory mental health advocates. In a few months’ time, from 1 April, people who are sectioned will have a statutory right to such an advocate to help them through the system.
I warmly welcome the Minister to his new position, although we have already met across the Floor in Committee.
Despite the drop in total psychiatric admissions, the number of involuntary admissions since 1996 has increased by 20 per cent.—it is up by a fifth. Does the Minister share my concern that with bed occupancy in psychiatric hospitals now at 86 per cent., and with a drop in bed numbers of 17 per cent. since 2001, decisions on treatment for people with psychiatric illness are being made not with the clinical needs of the patient in mind, but because of a lack of, and declining, in-patient facilities?
I thank the hon. Lady for welcoming me to the Dispatch Box, but she is completely wrong: all decisions are made on the basis of clinical need. She is also wrong about the number of detentions, which has remained roughly stable since 1998, at some 47,900 in 1998-99 and some 47,600 in the last financial year. We now have 64 per cent. more consultant psychiatrists, 71 per cent. more clinical psychologists and 21 per cent. more mental health nurses than in 1997. That suggests that our investment in mental health is a record that we can be proud of. Nevertheless, we will take measures to publish a new strategy for mental health services next year.