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13
NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT, 1948
Under Section 47 of this Act power is given to the Councils of
County Boroughs and County Districts to apply to a Court of
Summary Jurisdiction for an Order for removal and detention, in
a suitable hospital or other place, of persons who
(a) are suffering from grave chronic disease, or, being aged,
infirm or physically incapacitated, are living in insanitary
conditions; and
(b) are unable to devote to themselves, and are not receiving
from other persons, proper care and attention.
Application is made to the Court only as a last resort, and in
several cases which came to my notice during the year it was
possible, either to persuade the persons concerned to enter a hospital
or home voluntarily, or to provide home help, nursing and other
local services so that they could remain in their own homes. However,
in two cases it was found necessary to take action under
Section 47.
The first of these cases concerned a woman aged 56 who was
found to be suffering from chronic Arthritis and Anaemia and was
completely bed ridden. She was not receiving the care and attention
which she needed so I decided that it would be in the woman's
interest if she was removed to hospital.
An order was obtained authorising her detention for three months,
and this period was extended as her physical condition did not
improve. She was still in hospital at the end of the year.
The other case was that of a woman aged 74 who had fractured
her thigh. She refused admission to hospital and as she was not receiving
any proper care and attention it was necessary to obtain
an emergency order for her detention in hospital for three weeks.
At the end of this period she became a voluntary patient.
Under Section 50 of this Act the Borough Council arranged for
the burial of 3 persons where no other provision was being made.
PUBLIC HEALTH LAUNDRY SERVICE
The Public Health Act, 1936, Section 84, dealing with the
cleansing of filthy articles gives power to a Local Authority "to
cleanse at the Authority's expense any article which upon a certificate
of the Medical Officer of Health or Public Health Inspector
require to be cleansed in order to prevent injury or danger of injury
to the health of any person on the premises."