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It has also been suggested to the clubs which do not already do it,
that they might consider setting up handicraft classes for their members,
this being thought to be in some ways a suitable alternative to the socalled
"workshops for the elderly" which have been set up in a few
London boroughs and one of which is now open at Burnt Ash (see
paragraph 3(b) (iii) above). There are difficulties with such workshops
in an outer London dormitory borough such as this, but some of these
difficulties would not apply to handicraft classes and if the work turned
out at such classes were good enough it would have a saleable value
of its own. Unfortunately most of the clubs found it impracticable to
get sufficient of their members interested in the scheme to allow a
qualified teacher to be obtained for them, but one or two clubs have
succeeded.
6. Coordinating committee
The King Edward Hospital Fund committee set up to review the
services for old people in this borough with a view to ascertaining whether
any of such services should be strengthened or whether additional services
were required, continued to meet during the year. Lewisham was
chosen for two main reasons: first because although the services were
in some respects (for example, a geriatric unit) less than in many other
boroughs it was maintained by the hospital and other authorities that
the old people were not prejudiced thereby; and secondly that Lewisham
could be regarded as a fairly typical suburban area and that if anything
was required here it might well be required elsewhere.
Besides representatives of the Fund, the committee includes representatives
of the hospital management committee, the London County
Council, local practitioners, and LOPWA, and I represent the borough
council. The committee decided to carry out a partial house-to-house
survey of the borough through a government agency. After a pilot
survey, in which the health department officers gave great help, the main
survey was carried out in the late spring of 1961. Tabulated results were
not available to the committee until the early part of 1962.
Various discussions on these results were had during the year in
an attempt to avoid a divergence of opinion, and later it was thought
necessary to obtain additional statistics in relation to hospitals from
the Ministry of Health. A considerable delay occurred in this and has
resulted in a postponement of the issue of the report ; much work however
has been done on the report and it is hoped that it will be issued
during the current year.
7. Costs
It is not easy to give a definite statement of the cost to the Borough
Council of work for old people as some of the cost is by its very nature
hidden in various estimates : for example, the salary of the women
health officers is partly on infectious disease and partly on old people.
Similarly there has often been a hidden subsidy to LOPWA in the rent
charged to them for their office accommodation.