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81
PART 5
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
There was a further expansion of the service in 1968 by the
addition of two mental health social workers to the staffing establishment
who took up appointments at Oak House Residential
Unit, which forms part of Tooting Bee Hospital, and the Wandsworth
Town Child Guidance Unit which is run by the Inner
London Education Authority.
These appointments, together with the linkage of social workers
to general medical practices, represent a marked development in
the relationship of the local authority Mental Health Service with,
on the one hand, the hospital services, and on the other, the general
practitioner service.
Mental Health Week was again organised in conjunction with
the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Merton, and the Open Days
held at training centres, hospitals and the Gateway Club were very
well attended.
The Mental Health Section continues to attract highly-skilled
social workers, and is one of the local authority Mental Health
Departments selected by the London School of Economics for the
training of their professional students.
CO-ORDINATION WITH OTHER SERVICES
Secondment of Mental Health Social Workers to Oak House
Residential Unit at Tooting Bee Hospital
Oak House is a residential unit for psychiatric patients run by
Tooting Bee Hospital and situated in the hospital grounds.
Patients are encouraged to return to their normal work while
resident in the unit.
Two Health Department social workers, each on a half-time
basis, are seconded to the hospital as part of the team of consultant
and nurses. The job of the senior social worker is to
liaise with the team in the initiation of new developments in this
rehabilitation unit.
Community meetings were started to help the residents gain
increased confidence and independence, and decisions taken at these