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Many members were anxious to help on Mental Health Flag Day and some undertook house-tohouse
collections. They again have helped in collections for the various projects of the Institute of
Social Psychiatry who act as agents to the City of Westminster in the management of the Centre.
The Terrace Day Centre is staffed by Dr. Stewart who attends on a sessional basis. Miss Blair,
Supervisor, Miss Hunter and Miss Fabian, qualified occupational therapists and Mr. Clark, an
experienced technician. Attached to the Centre as domiciliary occupational therapist is Mrs. Lowe,
appointed by the City of Westminster.
Close liaison has existed with the Mental Health Social Workers of the Westminster City Council
with the ready co-operation of Mrs. R. S. G. Paterson, Principal Mental Health Social Worker. These
officers continually pay welcome visits to the Centre and are well known to the staff and patients.
We derive a large proportion of our referrals from these officers and direct from psychiatrists at mental
hospitals, psychiatric clinics and general hospitals. We also accept referrals from general practitioners
and various social agencies.
Occasionally we have a patient who attends daily but who is still resident in hospital until adjusted
sufficiently to return home, take up lodgings or enter a hostel.
There will always remain a hard core of patients who will never be able to tolerate the demands of
outside employment and for whom we provide custodial care. This is a valuable service in that
relations are relieved of the patient during the day and able to pursue their own activities. Where
there are no relatives these patients are at least saved from reverting to social isolation : they do
however block places in the Centre for others.
The Centre does not of course issue prescriptions as patients attend psychiatric clinics and their
own general practitioners. However, the staff is concerned with the task of ensuring that a patient
is taking medication as prescribed since, in some cases, failure to do so may lead to relapse.
The statistics set out in Table 46, page 86, give an analysis of the composition of the group and
the results achieved over the year at the Centre.
We have had many visitors from home and abroad who are interested in the rehabilitation of the
mentally ill.
Medical students from University College Hospital have attended, as well as groups from the
Royal College of Nursing, the Middlesex Hospital Tutors Courses and student nurses from Horton
and Friern Hospitals; some nurses have joined in our activities as part of their training.
Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy has started to send third year students for six
weeks of their psychiactric clinical experience. This has been particularly valuable because it has
helped the students to acquire some knowledge of the facilities available in the community service
provided by the Local Authority. They have brought new ideas and youthful enthusiasms into the
group, and their presence has proved stimulating, especially to the group's younger members.
The Goodfellows Therapeutic Social Club meets at the Centre on Wednesday evenings and is
attended by some of the day patients and by people who are in employment but have difficulties in
mixing and look for help in a social group. The club is also a valuable method by which we can follow
up the welfare of our former day patients who have entered employment. A light and inexpensive
supper is provided by the day staff on the club evening.
The Centre premises are also made available on Monday evenings for a club for mentally handicapped
young people in Westminster.
We are continually grateful for help and interest shown in our endeavours by the Medical Officer
of Health, Dr. J. H. Briscoe-Smith; we have received assistance and understanding from various
administrative officers of Westminster City Council.
VENEREAL DISEASES
There are four special clinics in teaching hospitals in Westminster for the treatment of sexually
transmitted diseases. Three of these special clinics show an increase in attendance from the previous
year, particularly in those patients with non-specific conditions.