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 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts
Provision of
care and
treatment
for the
mentally ill
persons alleged to be suffering from mental illness with such degree of disturbed
behaviour that urgent action appears to be required either for their own protection or
for the protection of others are referred for investigation to the Council's mental welfare
officers (duly authorised officers). Persons needing help in their domestic, occupational,
social or personal problems associated with potential psychiatric breakdown or following
psychiatric treatment are referred to the Council's psychiatric social workers. Particulars
of the cases needing such help are given later in this report.
The information given in previous annual reports regarding the large number of
cases referred to the mental welfare officers may have tended to suggest that these
officers are concerned only with the removal of patients to observation wards or their
direct admission to mental hospitals after certification or under urgency orders and that
otherwise they take no action. This is by no means the case, but the extent to which
other action has been taken has not been known because the necessary records have not
been kept. In 1955, however, Dr.J. Alan Herd, the Council's medical adviser in mental
health, in consultation with the department's statistician and the senior mental welfare
officer, planned a new system of statistical recording, which was introduced on
1st January, 1956, from which a large amount of additional information can be obtained.
Much of this information in respect of the year 1956 has yet to be analysed, but for the
purposes of this report Dr. Herd has devised the tables which follow.
The following table shows the number of persons referred to the mental welfare officers during the year and the number of separate investigations :
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
*This figure compares with 8,346 in 1955 and 8,690 in 1954. 15 per cent. of the persons seen were referred more than
once. The total of 6,318 persons is equivalent to 2.4 per 1,000 of the population over the age of 15 years.
Sources of
referral
The following table gives the sources of referral of cases to the mental welfare officers during the year:
| Source | No. of cases |
|---|---|
† Mental welfare officers also sought the opinion of a psychiatrist, with the consent of the general practitioner, on 123 other
occasions after seeing the patient and before taking action.
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