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Disposal of
all cases

*Plus 6 patients whose ages are not known (5 in ' no action ' group).
Approximately 50 per cent. of all patients in each age group were eventually admitted
to a mental hospital but the proportion of those admitted who were certified was higher
for those over 65 (48 per cent.) than for those under that age (43 per cent.). These
percentages do not, of course, represent the proportion of certified patients in relation
to all admissions to the mental hospitals, since many voluntary patients are admitted
through other agencies without reference to the mental welfare officers.
It is felt that the number of aged patients who are certified would be reduced if more
of these patients were referred for assessment to out-patient clinics or for domiciliary
visits by psychiatrists when no doubt other methods of disposal would be suggested in
some cases. Endeavour will be made to arrange for such assessments to be obtained
through the general practitioners. 86.9 per cent. of the patients under 65 who were
considered by the mental welfare officers to need action during 1956 received a
psychiatric assessment, the majority in observation wards, whereas the comparable
proportion in respect of those over 65 was only 41.7 per cent.
It has not been possible hitherto to record what action, if any, was taken by the
mental welfare officers in respect of the cases in which no action under the Lunacy Acts
was taken. There were 2,353 and 2,503 such cases in 1954 and 1955 respectively. In 1956,
there were only 1,656 occasions when no action of any kind was possible or necessary.
Among the other actions and disposals arranged or recommended by the mental welfare
officers, which in previous years were included in the 'no action' group, were:
Referred to out-patient clinics with the consent of the
general practitioner 41
Arranged for admission as voluntary patient 415
Arranged for non-statutory admission 172
Recommended admission welfare home 63
Recommended other disposal 93*
* These include patients referred to a psychiatric social worker, to the sanitary authority and back to the general
practitioner, either because the patient was physically too ill to be moved on mental grounds or because the patient appeared
to be in need of continued medical care either at home or in hospital for physical rather than mental reasons.
Marital status
of persons
referred
The following table shows the rate of referral of cases to the mental welfare officers
per 10,000 population in each age-status group. In general the figures reveal a much
lower rate of referral of married persons than single, widowed or divorced persons.
This difference is more striking because approximately one-sixth of the married persons
seen by the mental welfare officers were in fact separated but they had to be included in
the 'married' group because there is no record of the number of 'married but
separated' persons in the population.
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