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hospital boards); any two members so consulted must be satisfied that the medical practitioner
possesses the necessary special experience before the local health authority approves
him. Approval of a medical practitioner is for five years only and may be renewed only
after compliance with the foregoing procedure. A doctor so approved may act in any part
of England and Wales.
The advisory panel in London consists of 23 members who, up to the end of 1961,
had considered 268 applications of which 246 (including 12 from doctors in general practice)
had been approved.
Residential accommodation
The provision of residential accommodation for certain mentally disordered patients
now in hospital and for others who need to be admitted to hospital in the absence of such
provision is potentially the most onerous task which the Council faces in developing its
mental health services. Whilst recognising its ultimate obligation under the new Act to
provide such accommodation for a very large number of persons for whom the special
facilities of the hospital services are not essential, the Council decided to proceed with the
provision of hostels on a broad basis of priority for certain classes, for whom the need
was considered to be particularly marked. An initial programme was formulated on the
principle that one hostel of each of a number of types for which a prima facie need existed
should be provided; the need for further hostels of each type was to be examined in the
light of experience.
Considerable assistance in the provision of residential accommodation for elderly
mentally infirm persons and for mentally disordered children in care is given by the
Welfare Committee (in accommodation provided under Part III of the National Assistance
Act) and by the Children's Committee (in homes provided under the Children Act, 1948)
respectively.
The categories of persons for whom hostel provision is being made in the initial stages
through the health services and the progress made by the end of the year towards the implementation
of the programme are shown below:
(i) Persons discharged from psychiatric hospitals and considered likely to benefit
from rehabilitation; other persons needing a period of hostel care to avoid admission
to hospital.
A large residential property in Putney has been acquired to accommodate 23 persons;
the necessary adaptations were in progress at the end of the year with a view to occupation
in mid-1962. Work on a similar purpose-built hostel for 60 residents for which a site
has been acquired in Lewisham, is expected to start at the beginning of 1963.
(ii) Young persons of both sexes leaving residential schools for the maladjusted and
needing extra care and guidance.
A search for suitable sites, or buildings for adaptation was proceeding at the end of
1961.
(iii) Subnormal and severely subnormal children requiring short-term care to avoid
hospital admission at times of particular domestic difficulty.
Accommodation is to be incorporated in a purpose-built junior training centre for
which a site has been acquired in Bermondsey.
(iv) Employable subnormal male persons requiring long-term care.
Negotiations were in progress at the end of the year for the acquisition of a site in
Paddington.
(v) Mentally disordered children requiring long-term care but not needing specialist
medical treatment or training or continual nursing attention.
A search for a suitable site, or building for adaptation, was proceeding at the end of
the year.
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