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47
Special Clinics for Retarded Children
The number of children referred to the two clinics was:—
Harrow Road 38
Bessborough Street 11
Short Term Care
Holidays for periods of two to eight weeks were arranged for 37 patients; thirteen were accommodated
in hospitals and twenty-four in suitable residential homes.
OTHER SERVICES FOR THE MENTALLY ILL
Terrace Day Rehabilitation Centre, 1 St. Mary's Terrace, W.2.
This centre, for 40 mentally ill patients, opened on 1 st November 1966 and during December, 19
patients were in attendance, 13 of whom were Westminster patients. (See full report on the
activities of this Centre on this and following page).
Day Rehabilitation Centres
The following patients attend these centres to receive training and support, helping to equip
them for their eventual return to employment:—
Centre Patients
Blackfriars 4
Castle Day 4
Crossways 3
Shoreditch 1
The Westminster patients attending the Centres at Blackfriars and Crossways were transferred to
the Terrace Day Centre when this opened in November.
GENERAL
Approval and Re-approval of Medical Practitioners for the Purposes of Section 28,
Mental Health Act, 1959.
During 1966, eight medical practitioners were newly approved and 28 re-approved for the
purposes of the Mental Health Act.
Recuperative Holidays for Patients recovering from Mental Illness
Recuperative holidays were arranged for 14 patients.
THE TERRACE DAY CENTRE
1 St. Mary's Terrace, W.2.
Report on the period from November 1966 to March 1967,
by Dr. R. A. Stewart, Medical Officer in Charge of the Centre.
The Centre commenced its activities at the beginning of November with the transfer of staff and
seven patients from Blackfriars Rehabilitation Centre. The builders were still in occupation and
full working order was not achieved until after Xmas. Cleaning up and preparation of the floors and
equipment occupied the staff and patients over the first weeks.
The basement now has a well equipped carpentry workshop and laundry. The technician and
patients have been busy in constructing cupboards and shelves in the Centre and fulfilling an outside
order for holiday postcard display boards in addition to various other jobs.
The ground floor comprises the Office, Workroom, Kitchen and Dining room. The Kitchen is a
place of great importance from a therapeutic aspect in that the patients help to prepare the midday
meal and also go shopping for this. Jam making is also a regular activity and finds a ready sale.
The first floor comprises a Workroom, a large Recreation room and a Kitchenette.
Occupational Therapy goes beyond the conventional methods of craft work. A continuous
search is made to obtain light industrial work. This has proved difficult to come by in view of the
present financial recession. The latter state of affairs is also making it very difficult to place
patients in employment which after all is one of our main goals.
Work obtained so far has consisted of addressing and collating circulars for mailing, preparing and
packing plastic articles, packing streamers &c for outside firms. Payment for work done, has
been very small so far.
The centre of course caters primarily for patients resident in the City of Westminster area but if
vacancies exist, patients from other Boroughs can be accepted if arrangements are made to recoup
Westminster for the cost of attendance.