View report page

45
In recent years, difficulty has been experienced in recruiting sufficient home helps to meet the
demands upon the service. However, with the imposition of the Selective Employment Tax,
some women found it harder to obtain part-time employment and this in turn produced a situation
whereby it became increasingly easy to recruit suitable staff. For this reason mainly, it was
possible to increase the home help staff by 29 during 1967. Notwithstanding this improved
position, the Home Help Organisers were of the opinion that approximately 15 per cent, of the
recipients of home help service would have benefited by an additional hour or two each week.
One position of assistant home help organiser was added to the establishment to provide more
visiting to, and thus a closer contact with, the recipients of the service.
Number of home helps: 1967 1966
(a) Joining service 97 91
(b) Leaving service 68 88
(c) Employed as at 31st December 262 233
= full-time equivalent 200 178
Details of the number of cases in which this service was provided during 1967 are set out in
Table 42, page 87.
ASSESSMENT SCALES FOR THE SOCIAL SERVICES
A local health authority is permitted under various enactments dealing with the Social Services
to make charges for services and goods supplied and to waive or reduce the charges in necessitious
cases. For assessment purposes, scales applied by the former London County Council, who were
responsible for these services prior to 1st April, 1965, were continued in operation in the City
of Westminster during 1967.
With the object of securing a measure of uniformity throughout Greater London, the London
Boroughs Association submitted proposals to constituent authorities in 1967 for the calculation
of payments for charges levied by the London Boroughs for these services.
A Sub-Committee composed of members of the Health, Children's and Welfare Committees
examined the proposals in detail and a report containing their observations and recommendations
has been prepared for the Council's approval at its meeting in February, 1968. The operative date
for the new charges and assessment scheme is to be 1st April, 1968, and so far as the Health
Department is concerned, will cover services in respect of day nurseries, play groups and occasional
creches, home helps, recuperative holidays, chiropody, supply of nutrients and other articles,
food and clothing for tuberculous patients, hostel care for the tuberculous, loan of home nursing
equipment and residential care for the mentally disordered.
MENTAL HEALTH
(Mrs. R. S. G. Paterson, Principal Mental Health Social Worker)
The year 1967 has been an interesting and stimulating period in the Mental Health Service of
the City. The customary activities which are set out at the end of this section of this Report have
become more firmly established and have expanded.
A very gratifying aspect of the year, no doubt applicable to many spheres of work in the Personal
Health Services, is the realisation both by the citizens of this Authority and the numerous other
agencies with whom the section is involved, that there is a City service identifiable and directed
towards the special requirements of this very complex community, and our citizens are now seeing
themselves as part of this great Authority.
This emerging community spirit is enabling the City's mental health social worker team to begin
to enlist the support of the City's residents in the care of their mentally sick neighbours who so
greatly need their help, and the City took advantage of Mental Health Week with its theme "Work
to be Done" to give the general public an opportunity of seeing the range of work in this field. An
Exhibition for the week was mounted at the Marylebone Town Hall, and the Section is proud to
feel that this was opened by the Lord Mayor, Alderman A. C. Barrett, accompanied by the Lady
Mayoress.
Exhibits came from many psychiatric hospitals and units providing Day Care, films on all aspects
of mental disorder were shown throughout the day, and mental health social workers were
available for informal discussions on all topics relating to Mental Health Services. The City was
pleased to share its exhibition with the National Association for Mental Health, whose exhibit
concentrated on showing opportunities for careers in the mental health field, and with the National