View report page

- 39 -
(b) is unable to devote to himself, or is not
receiving from other persons, proper care
and attention.
The National Assistance (Amendment) Act, 1951> amended
Section 47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948» and provided that
application for removal of urgent cases may be made by the local
authority or by the Medical Officer of Health, if authorised by the
Council to do so, without giving seven days* notice as previously
required. Such applications may be made either to a Court of
Summary Jurisdiction or to a single Justice, on a certificate by the
Medical Officer of Health and another registered medical practitioner,,
Further, where the hospital or institution agree to receive the case,
it is not necessary to give seven days® notice to the manager thereof.
Detention Orders made in respect of these urgent cases are
limited to three weeks, and if it is necessary to extend this time,
compliance must be made with the original requirements of Section 47-
Although many cases of old people were investigated during
the year, in only two cases was formal action taken to secure
compulsory removal to an institution.
Details of these cases are as followss-
The first was a woman, aged 83 years, living alone in
insanitary conditions in one room. She was unable to devote to
herself proper care and attention, and she persistently refused all
offers of help from domiciliary services. Endeavours made to
persuade her to enter a Home voluntarily met with adamant refusals.
A Justice's Order was, therefore, obtained and she was
removed to a London Covinty Council Home, where she has settled down
as a permanent resident .
The second was a woman, aged 81 years, living alone in a
ground floor flato She sustained an accident, involving a suspected
fracture of the left leg, and was taken to hospital„ She refused
treatment and took her own discharge and returned by ambulance to her
home where she had no one to look after her. The injured limb was
very contused and the toes were becoming gangrenous, and it was
essential that she should receive medical treatment.
When a further effort to remove her to hospital was made
she refused to get into the ambulance. A Justice's Order was,
therefore, obtained and she was then removed to hospital, where she
still occupies a chronic sick bed. No extension of the Order was
necessary.
It was necessary to take action under the National
Assistance (Amendment) Act, 1951 in regard to a third person (not
elderly), and the details are as follows:-
A woman, aged 33 years, was suffering from a grave chronic
disease and living alone in extremely insanitary conditions. She
was most unco-operative and it was not possible to arrange domiciliary
care under these conditions. She was in urgent need of medical
treatment and nursing and, although every effort was made to persuade
her to go to hospital, she persistently refused.
A Justice's Order was, therefore, obtained and she was
admitted to hospital. She subsequently discharged herself at the
end of the 21-day period of the Order, but is now accepting proper
domiciliary and medical services.