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integration of the medical, social and administrative services.
Whilst the Mental Health Act, 1959 imposed a duty to appoint Mental Welfare Officers to act in
psychiatric emergencies, this is no longer considered the main role of Social Workers in this field.
Indeed it has been clearly demonstrated that emergency work can be markedly diminished by skilful
and regular field work allied to early psychiatric referral. A fundamental principle of the Mental
Health Service is that it will act as an educational and counselling agency disseminating skills
through all the field staff of the Health and Welfare Department, and supporting as far as possible
the work of other departments of the Council, of voluntary bodies and of all local community institutions.
Thus a large number of people will be in a position to recognise disturbances in personality
so that appropriate medical or other help can be obtained before serious illness supervenes.
In addition to the community care and after care work of the field staff an emergency service is
available at all times including Bank Holidays.
Statistics relating to cases referred under the Mental Health Act are shown on pages 82 and 83.
It is always difficult to present skills in terms of statistics but some idea of the volume of work
undertaken by the officers and their supportive role in the community is represented in the fact that
some 5,700 visits have been made during the year to both the mentally ill and mentally subnormal.
In addition to social work the Mental Welfare Officers dealt with 207 informal and 303 statutory
admissions to psychiatric hospitals.
Hostel
Park House Hostel continues to play an effective part in the rehabilitation of patients recovering
from mental illness. During the year there was a change of Warden and as this coincided with the
completion of a three year period of the running of the Hostel since its opening in the Autumn of
1964, an opportunity has been taken to study the results on residents in the Hostel and on those
people who had passed through and who could be traced. The results of this study will be published
in the coming year.
Therapeutic Social Clubs
It has not been considered necessary to organise a fourth therapeutic social club as the three
existing clubs appear to be adequate to meet the need and have again provided a varied programme
for those persons attending. The following attendances are encouraging to those who undertake the
supportive roles in the clubs and who arrange enterprising activities to stimulate and help the
interests of the members and enable them to achieve independent relationships outside the protective
environment of the clubs.
Park House 1021
Links 884
York Park 530
Hostel Accommodation
Irrespective of the considerable number of persons who rehabilitate through the supportive services
provided by the Social Workers in the field, psychiatric hospitals, voluntary agencies and the
Borough's short-stay hostel, there were nevertheless 30 patients during the year who required long-
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