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and participating in group work, but also following up Wandsworth
patients who are admitted to the main hospital. Our social
worker also attends an evening social club run for patients and
ex-patients of Springfield Day Hospital.
Oak House Residential Unit at Tooting Bec Hospital
The two mental health workers who pioneered the secondment
at Oak House were replaced by two different social workers in the
autumn of 1969, each working five sessions a week. The changeover
was made satisfactorily, and has given fresh impetus to
developments within the unit. Liaison with medical and nursing
staff has been close and weekly staff meetings have been established.
The whole staff have thus been involved in admissions and
discharges, and a more rational policy is evolving.
The opening of a new workers' ward in the hospital has made
it possible for some of the working male patients, who are unlikely
to leave hospital, to be transferred. Some residents have been in
hospital for years, and rehabilitation is slow, the break from hostel
to community being extremely difficult; but an increasing number
are being admitted directly from the community, mainly through
out-patient clinics. They may have personal, employment or
accommodation problems. A relatively short stay in the hostel
has helped some of these over a crisis period, after which they
have returned to independent living. A few of the Oak House
residents have returned to the wards on becoming disturbed and
some have then been transferred back to the unit. This is easily
arranged in the hospital setting.
Liaison with the hospital has been improved by one of the
psychiatric social workers meeting weekly with the medical staff
and by both social workers attending the clinical conferences that
are held in the hospital.
The fortnightly community meetings attended by residents,
nurses and social workers have improved communication in the
hostel, and through the meetings residents have participated in
arranging a number of successful parties, an outing and the first
of what is hoped will be a series of musical evenings, with an
outside visitor preparing a requested programme of tape recordings
and leading the discussion.
Work with individuals has continued, each resident being allocated
to one of the social workers who maintains links with other
social workers in the hospital as well as in the commnity, and
with other agencies. Some residents attend one of the two groups
that have continued with the help of the social workers. These are
small therapeutic groups held weekly, each with an attendance
of three to six per week and with a membership of up to ten or
twelve. Former residents have been followed up and some have