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COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES
Mental Health
Community care for mentally disordered persons living in Lewisham is provided by a
team of 14 mental health officers, organised on an area basis, led by the Principal
Mental Health Officer and working under the direction of a Senior Medical Officer.
The number of persons receiving some form of community care continued to rise
steadily throughout the year, from a total of 888 in January to 1,191 at 31st December.
Statutory duties connected with the compulsory admission of mentally disordered
persons to hospital are undertaken by the more experienced mental health officers
working on a rota basis, these duties at night and weekends being shared with the
London Borough of Greenwich for the combined area. During the year Lewisham
mental health officers were concerned in the compulsory removal of 156 persons
to hospital for observation or treatment and those carrying out rota standby duty
were required to deal with 179 emergencies.
In addition to home visiting, the services provided by the Health Department
comprise special clinics, a day nursery early care unit, three training centres
for the mentally subnormal and a hostel, two day centres, two social clubs and
domiciliary occupational therapy for the mentally ill.
Mental Subnormality
Special Clinics. Special advisory clinics for young backward children and their
mothers continued at the Central Lewisham Health Centre and owing to the high
number of referrals, principally from health visitors, the frequency of these clinics
was increased to one every fortnight. In addition monthly sessions were introduced
at the Amersham Road Health Centre for children living in the northern part of the
borough. During the year 63 children attended 23 sessions at the Central Lewisham
Clinic and 33 were seen at 13 sessions at Amersham Road.
As part of the Council's arrangements for improving liaison with the hospital
service in the field of mental subnormality, combined assessment clinics, conducted
by the special clinic medical officer and a consultant psychiatrist from Darenth
Park hospital were introduced. At these clinics, which are held six-weekly at the
Central Lewisham Health Centre, subnormal persons whose continued care in the
community presents special problems are examined.
Early Care Unit. A high proportion of the children seen at the special advisory
clinics were recommended for admission to the Early Care Unit which forms part of
the Shaftesbury House day nursery. The unit has places for 12 subnormal infants
and there was a waiting list for admission throughout the year. By the end of the
year plans were well advanced for bringing extra accommodation into use to provide
places for three extra children but the need for further units of this type had become
clear.
Training Centres. The Lewisham junior training centre has places for 120 subnormal
or severely subnormal children of school age who have been found, after
formal examination, to be unsuitable for education in school. In the centre the
children are helped to make the most of their limited capabilities and trained to
become socially acceptable. Places in the Centre are made available to children
from the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark as well as those from Lewisham.
The centre was full throughout the year with, at times, a waiting list for admission.
At the end of the year 95 of the places were filled by Lewisham children and
two further children were awaiting admission. Building work to add a special care
unit for 12 doubly handicapped children to the centre was almost completed by the
end of the year and the unit was expected to open early in 1967.
Training at the two adult training centres (Brockley, 60 females and Deptford,
65 males) has been much hampered by the poor standard of church hall accom-
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