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59
conveying suitable patients to some of the chiropody clinics and it is confidently expected that this
arrangement will expand rapidly. Apart from receiving their treatment the patients have the
opportunity of an outing and the company of others.
During December, 1968, the Chief Chiropodist and part time chiropodists were working 29
sessions weekly and 7 part-time chiropodists were engaged on domiciliary work of approximately
80 treatments a week.
Details of the number of treatments undertaken in 1968 are set out in Table 40, page 100.
HOME HELP SERVICE
The home help service is provided under Section 29 of the National Health Service Act, 1946
when such assistance is required by reason of infirmity, ill health or age of a member of a household,
for which a charge, abatable in necessitous cases, is made.
In order to provide local facilities the service is administered from three offices, situated at the
City Hall and the two sub-offices in the Marylebone and Paddington areas. A Home Help Organiser
is in charge at the City Hall and a second Organiser stationed at the Paddington office controls
both the Paddington and St. Marylebone offices. There is a supporting staff of Assistant Home Help
Organisers and clerical officers.
The demand for service continues to arise very largely from the elderly, but help is given as
required to families with young children when the mother is ill. In these circumstances the home
help will visit the home early in the morning to prepare the children for school, give them breakfast
and take them to school. Later in the day she will collect them from school, return them to their home,
prepare a meal and leave after handing them over to the father upon his return from work. This is a
very valuable side of the service since it often prevents children having to be taken into care. The
Council also employs specially trained home helps who work with inadequate parents giving
guidance on housekeeping, child care and other domestic matters.
To supply the amount of home help demanded by every applicant would be far beyond the
resources of the Department, especially bearing in mind the present Government's policy of financial
stringency. Much care and thought must therefore be given to deciding how the limited resources
can best be used. The Department's Chief Administrative Officer and the Organisers therefore
undertook a review of all aspects of the home help service. As a result of this, rigid zoning of the
districts in which home helps are employed was introduced and more stringent assessment of the
amount of work necessary was undertaken. Travelling time was thus reduced to a minimum and
there was a slight reduction in the time allocated to a number of recipients without detriment to
them. This has resulted in a more efficient service within the Council's budget.
Number of home helps: 1968 1967
(a) Joining service 41 97
(b) Leaving service 83 68
(c) Employed as at 31st December 220 262
= full-time equivalent 184 200
Details of the number of cases in which this service was provided during 1968 are set out in
Table 41, page 100.
MENTAL HEALTH
(Mrs. R. S. G. Paterson, Principal Mental Health Social Worker)
The existing services provided by the City Council in the field of Mental Health have been maintained
throughout 1968. No new major projects have been undertaken but the general impetus
given to the appraisal of social services engendered by the publication of the Seebohm Report has
been regarded as an opportunity to consider whether our services are meeting needs and being
used to the best advantage.
The section continues to be concerned with various activities such as clubs, out-patient
departments and liaison with psychiatric hospitals.
The mental health social workers carry heavy case loads of mentally ill, subnormal and severely
subnormal patients. This is the most important but the least apparent aspect of the section's work.
A mental health social worker may well be the only person to whom a patient, isolated from