Subnormality Services in the Hospital Plan

The Hospital Plan makes it clear that "very different considerations" from those obtaining in planning mental illness services "govern the provision required for the subnormal and severely subnormal" (p. 5). These considerations, however, have not led the planners to firm conclusions. All the factors mentioned as relevant in the Plan are assumed to "more or less offset one another" (p. 5). In 1960 there were substantial waiting lists for subnormal beds, and it was clear that life expectancy among subnormal and severely subnormal persons was increasing. These factors pointed to the need for more beds. Furthermore, the Minister states in the Plan, there may be a greater readiness on the part of parents to seek admission for their subnormal children as informal patients. However, the increase in demand for beds in mental deficiency hospitals will be offset, the planners assume, by the expansion of community services which "will avoid or postpone the need for hospital admission in many