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assisting and counselling the patient and his family, the mental
welfare officer, acting as a social worker needs infinite patience,
tact and understanding. Often this entails greater work with the
family than with the patient. Arrangements are made for attendances
at out-patient clinics, day centres, clubs, etc., and for
admissions to hostels and homes. With subnormality, the officer
arranges for attendances at clinics, training centres, clubs and. in
addition, for long and short term care to relieve family stress.
Again support for relatives is imperative.
Mental health officers are in constant day-to-day communication
and contact with hospital consultants and social workers and
a general case conference is held at Bexley Hospital on the first
Friday of each month. One officer is in attendance at the Miller
Hospital clinic on Wednesday afternoons and another attends
Castlewood Day Hospital for three or four sessions per week. At
this latter hospital the Council employs an art therapist for two
sessions per week as well as a full time occupational therapist.
Furthermore, a mental health officer is in attendance at all training
centre medical examinations and at the Special Clinic, held on
Thursday of each week at 105, Shooter's Hill Road. While the
Principal Mental Health Officer is present at the weekly Wednesday
afternoon clinic conference at Goldie Leigh Hospital, his deputy
attends the educationally subnormal schools for the maladjusted
with a view to discussing with the respective head teachers suitable
'after-care' for school leavers. As required, mental health officers
attend case conferences and liaise with statutory and voluntary
agencies.
Good relationships with local general practitioners have been
established and, in order to enable these relationships to become
more personal and therefore more effective, the area of the Borough
has been divided into twelve districts each with its own officer, thus
enabling a doctor in any particular area to get to know its respective
mental welfare officer more closely.
For the most part, it is the object of the mental health officer
to liaise between doctor, patient and hospital and to relieve general
practitioners of duties other than those of a purely medical nature.
Whenever he feels it necessary, the officer contacts the doctor or
the hospital reporting either satisfactory progress or deterioration
in a patient's condition.
Mental health officers need to have a complete knowledge of
the Acts relating to mental disorder, a comprehensive knowledge of
statutory social legislation and of other statutory and social agencies
concerned with their work.