London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1928
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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should be promoted to make illegal the marriage of any certified mentally defective
person and to legalise a system of voluntary sterilisation, with subsequent supervision,
for mentally defective persons. Consideration was given to resolutions in
somewhat similar terms, but expressing no opinion as to the advisability of
voluntary sterilisation, passed by the Holland (Lincoln) County Council, and to
a resolution passed by the Warwickshire County Council expressing the opinion
that the burden of providing institutional accommodation for the mentally
defective should be borne by the State, and, further, that legislation should be
promoted in order to make illegal the marriage of any mentally defective person.
It was decided to take no action on any of these resolutions.
Sterilisation.
Legal Proceedings.
83. It was necessary, during 1928, to institute legal proceedings, under section
53 of the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, against the relatives of two patients, one at
Farmfield and the other in the Caterham section of the Metropolitan Asylums Board
certified institution, for knowingly assisting the patients to escape. In each case
a conviction was secured. The defendants in the case of the Farmfield patient
were bound over; in the other case, the defendant was sentenced to two months'
imprisonment in the second division.
Legal
proceedings.
Contributions towards expenses of maintenance of defectives in institutions or under
guardianship.
84. The following statement shows for the year ended 31st December, 1928,
how the Council discharged the duty of making recovery, where possible, of such
contributions as were available in relief of the expenses of maintaining defectives
in institutions or under guardianship:—
Number of
oases under
contribution
and amounts
collected.
Table 7.
| (1) Cases under contribution. | (2) Sum accrued. | (3) Sum collected. | (4) Percentage of (3) to (2). | (5) Sum written off. | (6) Sum outstanding. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | ||
| 1,690 | 10,710 | 13 | 11 | 9,963 | 13 | 1 | 93.03 | 710 | 9 | 10 | 36 | 10 | 2 |
85. Legal proceedings had to be taken during the year for the recovery of
payment from persons liable to contribute with the following result:—
Legal proceedings
to
enforce payment.
Table 8.
| In 7 cases, orders made to pay amounts totalling:— | 17 cases adjourned upon undertaking: to pay being given. | In 6 cases, amounts paid at Court before proceedings, totalling:— | In 3 cases summons adjourned, sine die. | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrears. | Costs. | Arrears. | Arrears. | Costa. | Arrears. | ||||||||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. |
| 32 | 17 | 8 | - | 18 | 0 | 103 | 15 | 6 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | - |
Presentation of Petitions.
86. During 1928, petitions for orders sending defectives to institutions or
placing them under guardianship were presented in 264 cases. In 256 cases orders
were made ; in only 8 cases was the petition dismissed.
Petitions.
London cases granted leave of absence from certified institutions.
87. The following statement furnishes some interesting particulars as to
London cases to whom leave of absence from certified institutions has been granted
with a view to discharge at some later date:—
Leave of
absence on
trial.