Benefits For Patients Receiving Long Term In-Patient Care

EDM number 1345 in 2001-02, proposed by Lynne Jones on 20/05/2002.

That this House notes that long-stay patients receiving free in-patient care, including large numbers of people suffering from mental ill health, receive only ú15.10 per week state benefit; also notes the comments of the Chief Executive of South Birmingham Mental Health NHS Trust that the trust is regularly having to supplement this allowance from care budgets to ensure that people's basic needs for clothing, toiletries, haircuts and other personal items are met, causing a drain on NHS resources; further notes that this grossly inadequate personal income is depriving patients of the means to develop greater independence and compromises severely their social inclusion and integration into the ordinary life of the community; welcomes the campaigning work on this issue by Derbyshire Patients' Council; and calls on the Government to raise the amount of benefit that long-stay patients receive to at least ú30.00 per week.

This motion has been signed by a total of 98 MPs.