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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Mental Health Act, 1959: the Council's proposals—The Council's proposals for the
reorganisation and development of its mental health services in the light of the provisions
of the Mental Health Act, 1959 and the recommendations of the Royal Commission on
the Law relating to Mental Illness and Mental Deficiency were submitted to the Minister
of Health and approved by him without amendment. The following is a brief summary
of the main features:
Organisation and staffing—Day-to-day responsibility for mental health work to be
delegated to the nine Divisional Health Committees. A mental health social worker
team to be formed in each division under the immediate direction of a divisional mental
welfare officer responsible to the divisional medical officer.
Extension of arrangements for staff training, both whole time and in-service.
Junior training centres—Replacement of church hall centres by purpose-built premises
and provision of additioual accommodation as necessary. Provision for children requiring
special attention because of physical handicap or behaviour difficulty and for children
from three years and upwards to be made in new centres where appropriate. Provision
of play centre service to afford relief to parents during long centre holidays.
Adult training centres—Unsuitable premises to be replaced and considerable expansion
in provision of industrial training and sheltered workshop facilities envisaged, for both
men and women.
Day centres for the mentally ill to be provided and provision of occupational therapy
at day hospitals proposed.
Residential accommodation—To be provided in the light of need as revealed by
experience with 'pilot' schemes and in accordance with broad priorities as follows :
(i) For persons discharged from psychiatric hospitals and considered likely to benefit
from rehabilitation or for other persons needing a period of hostel care to avoid admission
to a psychiatric hospital;
(ii) for young adults leaving residential schools for the maladjusted and needing extra
care and guidance;
(iii) for short term care of subnormal and severely subnormal persons to avoid
hospital admission at times of particular domestic difficulty;
(iv) for short term care of high grade subnormal persons on discharge from hospital;
(v) for long term care of employable subnormal and psychiatrically disabled persons.
Full use to continue to be made of hostels and homes provided by voluntary associations
and of arrangements for placing in private homes.
Home training—Necessary expansion of existing home teaching service for the
mentally subnormal and extension to other classes of the mentally disordered as necessary.
Social clubs—Continuation of assistance to voluntary clubs and direct provision of
such facilities where necessary.
Home visiting—Progressive integration, within each local division, of social work for
all classes of mentally disordered persons. Development of liaison and co-operation
with the hospital service.
Decentralisation—As envisaged in the Council's proposals, the bulk of responsibility
for day-to-day operation of the mental health services was placed on the nine health
divisions of the county on 24 October, 1960 eight days before the coming into operation
of the main parts of the Mental Health Act, 1959. Some initial social worker staffing
difficulties were experienced but, on the whole, the new organisation had begun to settle
down well by the end of the year.
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