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110
Petitions
Petitions for orders for institutional care or guardianship under section 6 of the
Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, are normally presented once a week by an authorised
office ron the central administrative staff to a Judicial Authority who attends at the
County Hall by special arrangement. As a matter of convenience, children and other
persons placed by their parents under section 3 of the Act are also dealt with at these
sessions. The necessary medical certificates are provided by the Council's approved
medical officers following examinations immediately prior to the proceedings. The
senior inspector or one of the local organisers from the district offices joins the petitioning
officer in making the statutory declaration.
Attendance
at
Magistrates'
Courts
The arrangement has been continued whereby one of the Council's medical officers
attends at Courts, on request, after examination of alleged defectives in prison or on
bail, to give evidence on the mental condition of defectives charged with criminal
offences to enable the Courts to consider dealing with them under section 8 of the
Mental Deficiency Act, 1913.
Institutional
accommodation
The reduction in the amount of institutional accommodation for mental defectives
available for London by about 25 per cent. as a result of the re-allocation of accommodation
by the four Metropolitan Regional Hospital Boards in 1948 has given rise to
serious concern and difficulty, although within the limits of the resources available the
utmost co-operation has been received from all four Boards and the Hospital Management
Committees in attempting to solve a problem which is nation-wide but which prior to
1948 caused little anxiety in London. This co-operation enabled the Council, during the
year, to secure the admission to hospital of no fewer than 369 mentally deficient persons.
This figure is not only higher than in 1951 when 303 were admitted but exceeds the
number of London patients admitted to institutional care during any year since 5th July,
1948, and is somewhat greater than the annual number admitted for some years prior
to that date. Nevertheless, more patients were awaiting institutional care at the end of
the year than at 31st December, 1951. There were then 154 patients awaiting institutional
care, while there were 169 on the waiting list at 31st December, 1952. There were thus
81 more cases requiring institutional care during the year than in 1951.
Of the 154 persons for whom beds were needed at the end of 1951, no fewer than
117 were infants and young children awaiting admission to the Fountain Hospital. At
the end of 1952, however, only 89 were awaiting admission to that hospital. The
reduction in the waiting list for this hospital is all the more satisfactory because during
the year the Hospital Management Committee provided greatly increased facilities
for the admission of patients for short term care.
Temporary
care
Although not specifically authorised to do so, the Fountain Hospital had, during
1951, admitted children for short periods to provide a measure of relief to hard pressed
parents. The position with regard to this short term care was regularised by the issue of
Ministry of Health Circular 5/52 on 21st January, 1952, which authorised local health
authorities to find temporary accommodation and pay for the maintenance therein of
mentally defective persons to enable emergencies, such as the illness of a parent, to be
overcome and permitted Hospital Management Committees to admit such persons
temporarily without legal formality when their condition made them unsuitable for
accommodation in homes found by local authorities or they needed hospital treatment
which could not be given in a general hospital. The circular limits the provision of such
care generally to periods not exceeding two months.
The Council decided to exercise the authority given by the circular and during the
year has provided temporary care for 12 persons for an average period of 4 weeks 2 days
each. Accommodation was found for adolescent and adult patients with nominees of the
Guardianship Society, Brighton, and for infants and young children at Lynsted, the