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COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES
MENTAL HEALTH
Mental Subnormality
At the beginning of the year the London County Council held a special monthly
clinic for backward children at the Central Lewisham Health Centre. This served
the area of the former metropolitan Borough of Lewisham, and children from Deptford
attended a similar clinic in Greenwich. Since April, children who were already
attending at Greenwich, have continued to do so but all newly referred children
from the Deptford area have attended the Lewisham Centre, where, to meet the
heavier demand, sessions have been increased. The clinic was conducted throughout
the year by a medical officer who specialises in mental subnormality. During the
year 18 sessions were conducted and a total of 61 children attended.
Since the 1st April 31 examinations under Section 57 Education Act, 1944 were
carried out.
A special unit for 9 mentally subnormal infants is accommodated in the Shaftesbury
House day nursery. This unit which has been enlarged to take a total of 12
children has been redesignated the "Early Care Unit". Fifteen subnormal infants
attended during the year, the average daily attendance being 10* 3. Minibus transport
has now been provided by the Health Department for the children and their mothers.
There are three training centres for the mentally subnormal in the Borough.
The Junior Training Centre purpose-built by the London County Council in 1959,
provides for 120 children of school age. The Brockley and Deptford centres accommodate
60 female and 65 male adults respectively in hired church hall premises.
The centres serve the London Boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth and Greenwich
as well as Lewisham. A number of adult trainees from Lewisham attend training
centres in the Borough of Greenwich. The Brockley and Deptford centre premises
are unsatisfactory and are scheduled for early replacement by a purpose-built centre
in Southwark. When these new premises open the majority of the adult trainees in
Lewisham will be transferred. There will still remain a need in Lewisham and efforts
are being made to find a building which can be suitably adapted or a site on which
one can be built.
A Twelve-place special care unit as an annexe to the Junior Training Centre has
been planned and it is hoped that building will commence in the spring of 1966.
Pending the opening of this annexe, the Council agreed to maintain two places in the
Children's Centre of the Croydon and District Spastic Society.
The medical officer who conducts the special clinic attends the Junior Training
Centre each week to carry out medical assessments, the intention being that each
child shall be re-viewed once a year. A speech therapist also attends for one session
weekly.
Simple industrial out-work is carried on by the trainees at Brockley and further
industrial work has been introduced at Deptford.
At each centre the money received from work sales is divided between the trainees
proportionately. A new activity for both centres has been the introduction of swimming
instructions at a nearby swimming bath.
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