London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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City of Westminster 1967

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]

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51
Beauchamp Lodge Social Club, 2 Warwick Crescent, W.2
This establishment is run by a voluntary organisation and financial assistance is given by the
City Council. Mental Health Social Workers arrange for patients to attend the club and assist with
its functioning. Meetings are held on two afternoons each week and an average of 30 patients
attend. The objects of the club are to provide facilities for social communication, to encourage
its expression and to provide a focal point for people living in isolation.

GENERAL Application and re-approval of medical practitioners for the purposes of Section 28 of the Mental Health Act.

ApprovedRe-approved
196727
1966828
1965132

Recuperative Holidays for Patients recovering from Mental Illness
Recuperative holidays were arranged for 30 patients. (1966=14 and 1965=16.)
THE TERRACE DAY CENTRE
1 St. Mary's Terrace, W.2
Report for 1967
by Dr. R. A. Stewart, Medical Officer in Charge of the Centre
The year 1967 at the Terrace Day Centre was one of expansion and consolidation. Only two
months had passed since the Centre opened and accepted the first patients and the New Year
began a period of settling in, building up numbers and becoming established. Many links had
already been made but these had to be consolidated and the image and policy of the Centre had to
be introduced to colleagues working in neighbouring fields closely allied to Mental Health.
Important too was the need to explore all possible channels for sources of suitable work.
Activity at the Centre falls roughly into one of several categories. The majority of patients are
engaged in industrial work most of the mornings and those wishing to try woodwork are directed
to the workshop in the basement. All domestic duties are shared out, help being needed in the
laundry, polishing floors and making tea but most of all in the kitchen where lunches are prepared
daily on the premises.
The cooking is supervised by one of the Occupational Therapists, with a team of patients to help
prepare the vegetables, make pastry and pudding mixtures, lay the tables and serve dinner, according
to the ability of each individual. By the end of the year about 35 lunches were provided daily, the
home cooking being appreciated by patients and staff alike.
Shopping for fresh vegetables is done each morning and proves useful in directing patients to
take responsibility, choosing their merchandise and accounting for their change correctly. Errands
of this nature extend beyond shopping for lunch and include cashing the weekly cheque at the
bank, Post Office negotiations and buying paint and sundries for the workshop. Selecting gramophone
records, books and play reading sets from the library, returning films and other messages take
patients well outside the immediate locality and the responsibility accepted proves a stimulating
therapeutic exercise.
Patients employed in the workshop have helped equip the Centre with many items of furniture.
Many of these were built from timber from discarded furniture left in the building from previous
occupation and had been carefully dismantled and stored. The workshop itself was equipped with
tool-boards, a timber storage rack, drawers and compartments for screws and small treasured
articles that might come in handy. Gradually it came about that every space was utilised and every
tool had its rightful place when not in use, leaving plenty of working space.
Airing racks were made for the laundry, extra bench seating accommodation was built in the
dining room, shelves were made for the gramophone, typewriter and telephones. China cupboards
were built into the recesses in the kitchenette, broom cupboards and a hanging cupboard
for staff clothing were fitted on the landing. Over and above these were the jobs done for other
occupants of the building. Shelves and cupboards, renovated and re-upholstered chairs for the
Westminster Council of Social Service; shelves and a trolley for the Task Force addressograph
cabinet. For Westminster City Council were made a projector case and screen box, fracture boards,
a shoe-rack for St. Jude's Hostel and display boards and posts for the Westminster City Council