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- 49-
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
MR. D.T. BALDWIN,
Principal Mental Welfare Officer
The statistics given below account for the full calendar year, including the first
quarter when the London County Council was responsible for the provision of services, and
show the number of persons resident within the Borough suffering from mental illnessand
requiring hospital treatment and care. They also show the number of other mentally ill
persons who received support from mental health social workers whilst living in the community.
The value of supportive and preventive care cannot be shown in figures but there is no doubt
that the help given has in many instances enabled serious breakdowns to be averted and, in
the case of those recently discharged from hospital, has frequently eased their return to
normal life and bridged the gap between hospital and employment. Although responsibility
for the provision of hospitals in the borough is divided between the North West Metropolitan
and South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Boards, by arrangement the psychiatric hospitals
serving north and south of the borough are respectively Banstead and Springfield for
the mentally ill, both of which belong to the latter Regional Hospital Board, together with
Leavesden Hospital, which belongs to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board
and provides for the needs of the mentally subnormal. Close liaison is maintained between
the Council's officers and these hospitals, and mental health social workers attend outpatient
clinics held by psychiatrists at general hospitals in the borough. In addition the
services of consultant pyschiatrists are called upon in all cases of mental illness where the
Mental Health Act, 1959 prescribes that a second medical recommendation is required for
hospital admission.
A Social Club for psychiatric patients is held weekly at St. Charles' Hospital
under the auspices of the Notting Hill Council of Social Service, which is grant aided yearly
by the Council to the sum of £60. 0. 0. which is used to meet the incidental expenses of the
club and its activities. The club is conducted by mental health social workers assisted by
social workers from local hospitals and other agencies in the area.
Mental health education isnot dealtwithas a separate project and thePrincipal
Mental Welfare Officer has lectured on several occasions to health visitor and otherstudents
and the pertinent questions provoked by these lectures indicate a lively interest in the subject.
Following a practice begun under the former administration three students from the Certificate
in Social Work course were attached to the department for three weeks to study and observe
the work done in connection with the mentally subnormal.
EMERGENCY CALL ARRANGEMENTS
In order to provide a continuous twenty-four hour service the mental welfare
officers work at night and week-ends to a rota arranged jointly with the Borough of Hammersmith.
To assist in making this service and other services effective, an emergency call
office staffed by experienced officers at all times outside normal office hours is maintained
with the adjacent City of Westminster with which Authority the cost is shared.
Mental welfare officers on duty at night, week-ends or public holidays may use
a bedroom with a telephone if they need to at a day nursery in the borough where residential
staff accommodation is provided.
REFERRALS
It will be seen from Table 1 that the bulk of medical referrals of mental illness
are made by general practitioners. Of these, as shown in Table 3, approximately half have
been dealt with as emergencies under the provisions of Section 29 of the Mental Health Act,
1959 fo'r the admission of the patient to hospital on the recommendation of the general practitioner
alone. The remainder have been admitted under Sections 25 and 26 of the Act after
a second recommendation has been given by a practitioner approved under Section 28 of the
Act as having special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorder (usually a
consultant from the admitting hospital).
Other referrals (shown in (v) of Table 1) were made by friends, neighbours and
landlords of the patients concerned.