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Officers from the department, concerned with mental health, attended various
conferences and meetings of like nature during the year.
During 1967, in continuation of the Council's policy to encourage and permit all
mental welfare officers to become qualified, one mental welfare officer was on secondment
during the whole of the year, and one commenced a two year course in September.
One mental welfare officer returned to duty in July having obtained the Certificate
in Social Work after one year's secondment.
Students, as listed below were seconded to the department for supervised practical
training for varied periods at different times of the year. In addition some
medical students (Guy's) attended weekly.
Details of Students placed with the department
5 Certificate in Social Work (North West Polytechnic)
11 Mental Health Course (London School of Economics)
1 London Borough's Training Committee—re-entry course for married women
4 Group work students (North West Polytechnic)
1 Bedford College (Department of Social Administration)
1 Student Teacher for Mentally Handicapped (Chiswick Polytechnic) (Peckham
Junior Training School)
1 Student—Social Studies—University College of South Wales
In addition there were very many visitors to the mental health services and
establishments, some for long detailed visits, others for short trips of observation.
These included doctors, medical students, parties of nurses from Guy's, Cane Hill,
St. Francis, St. Giles, and nursing students, social workers and students, etc. Some
of these visitors came from overseas, i.e. Mauritius, Brazil, Columbia, New York
and Jerusalem.
The Chief Mental Welfare Officer and some of her staff gave talks on the service
at schools in the Borough and to a variety of organisations.
As a result of the growing need to increase psychiatric services available for
children, particularly some of those being cared for by the Children's Department,
it was decided to ask the I.L.E.A. to make more sessions available by their psychiatrists,
subject to the re-imbursement of fees and expenses by the Council. The extra
sessions were intended to cover general needs as well as those of specific Children's
Department establishments.
Mentally III
Day Centres. The Page's Walk Day Centre for the elderly mentally infirm
continued to function and it was possible to increase the number of those in attendance.
When the Grange Tannery Project is opened it will contain a new day centre
which will replace the existing one at Page's Walk. The Castle and Camberwell
day centres also continued as usual for those mentally ill persons in need of rehabilitation.
The work undertaken was mainly of a light industrial nature for local
firms.
Mentally Subnormal
Training Centres and Schools. The Benhill Adult Training Centre has functioned
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