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conferences and meetings in increasing number, and long and short term student trainees
of every type visited the Department. The Chief Mental Welfare Officer and Deputy
Chief Mental Welfare Officer gave talks on various aspects of mental health to many
organisations.
Mental Illness
The Castle and Camberwell Day Centres for mentally ill persons needing rehabilitation
continued as usual and at times found difficulty in obtaining sufficient local
work of a light industrial nature to keep the trainees fully occupied. The Occupational
Therapy Group at the Castle Day Centre continues successfully.
The day centre for the elderly mentally infirm at Pages Walk, which was opened
towards the end of last year, continued, and the numbers attending gradually increased.
These premises are not entirely satisfactory and will be closed when the day centre within
the Grange Tannory Project is completed early next year.
Subnormality
The Benhill Training Centre for adults at Camberwell continued. This centre, at
present housed in a church hall, will be transferred to the new large purpose built centre
at Crispin House (Grange Tannery Project) during 1969. The transfer of the Kingswood
House Junior Training School to ex-Civil Defence premises at Kirkwood Road was made
in January, and although not perfect, the premises are a great improvement in that the
school has sole use of them.
The occupational therapist continues to visit at home some of those persons
unable to attend junior training schools, centres and special care units, and a local centre
was made available as a forerunner of a proposed Special Care Unit for a small group of
older children.
Special Care Unit. Adaptations to the pre-fabricated bungalow were completed to
enable the Special Care Unit to open at East Dulwich Grove in April for 10 severely
subnormal children until the purpose built special care unit is opened in the proposed
Junior Training School at Harders Road.
Hostels. The number of girls resident in Dover Lodge hostel fell during the year,
and consideration was given to extending the age range for admission. This was not,
however necessary as the number of applications for admission increased.
The proposed hostel for twelve subnormal youths will not be available until the
new Crispin House complex opens next year.
Both mentally ill and mentally subnormal persons needing non-hospital residential
accommodation are sent to a variety of establishments as necessary. The coming into
force in September of part of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 clarified
and extended some of die powers of local authorities under the National Health Service
Act 1946 and Mental Health Act 1959 regarding provision of residential accommodation,
centres, etc., and for prevention of certain types of illness, including mental disorder.
Special advisory clinics. One (Sutherland House) of the two Special Advisory
Clinics for very young backward children was closed in June due to a drop in attendances.
Short term care was again provided on an increasing scale for a variety of reasons,
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