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a week. Patients or their relatives were assessed to contribute towards the cost in
accordance with the Council's approved scale of assessment.
The provision of a short-stay home at Hillingdon, Middlesex, by the Middlesex
County Council (referred to in the Report for 1954) where it was proposed that a
number of beds would be allocated solely for the use of London patients was delayed
and it has since been learnt that the Middlesex County Council have had to abandon
the scheme as the Minister of Health refused his consent because of the need for economy.
In addition to the 41 patients mentioned above, who were accommodated at the
expense of the Council, 100 patients (24 adults and 76 children) were admitted to
various mental deficiency hospitals for temporary care. The total number of patients
provided with temporary care during the year was thus 141 compared with 119 during
1954. This form of care gives much needed relief to harassed parents and relatives.
Home
tuition
A qualified teacher continued to provide tuition for three sessions a week in her own
home to a mentally defective child who is deaf and dumb and could not, therefore,
attend an occupation centre.
Welfare
clinics
for backward
children
under five
The work of the seven special welfare clinics for backward children under five,
which were set up during 1954, was reviewed during the year. It was found that parents
who were reluctant to take their children to ordinary welfare clinics welcomed the
opportunity of attending the special clinics where they could discuss their special
difficulties with a doctor experienced in mental deficiency as well as maternity and child
welfare. A social worker and a health visitor also attend the clinics to advise parents
as to their child's capabilities and the facilities available. In particular, advice and help
have been given to parents on the care of children awaiting admission to hospitals for
the mentally deficient; and in some cases admission to a hospital has been expedited,
or a period of short-term care for the child arranged to give the parents a rest. Another
feature of the clinics is that the parents meet others who share the same difficulties.
The existing arrangements are at present adequate for the needs of the whole county.
Students
Facilities were again given for students taking university courses of training in
social science and the University of London's Institute of Education course in the care
of educationally sub-normal children, to spend short periods in the district offices of
the supervision section and with the psychiatric social workers in the psychiatric care
and after-care service. The students also witnessed the proceedings when petitions were
presented by authorised officers of the Council to Judicial Authorities for orders under
the Mental Deficiency Acts.
Accommodation
Occupation centres
In June, 1955, the former Peckham elder girls' centre was transferred from unsatisfactory
premises to a rebuilt church hall and rooms attached to the Clifton Congregational
Church, Studholme Street, Peckham. In September, however, this centre exchanged
premises with the junior centre at Brockley, as the Clifton premises were considered
more suitable for juniors.
To meet the increasing need, additional accommodation was taken in June at the
Greenwich centre for juniors and elder girls.
Industrial
training
centre
The Industrial Training Centre at 52 Ashfield Street, Stepney (mentioned in the
Report for 1954) ,was opened in September. Simple wooden articles for use in nursery
schools are made for the Council's Supplies Department and a large order was almost
completed by the end of the Christmas term, the total value of the goods made being
about £l00. As this experimental centre has been open for only a short time it is early
to assess the results, but there is every indication that it will be a success and justify the
opening of similar centres in other parts of London.
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