View report page

During the year 5,889 community care visits were made. It is gratifying to note that
statutory admissions within the borough's catchment area have dropped by 9% in 1969.
However a great deal of social work time is spent on this work as the borough continues
to discharge statutory duties in respect of patients from other boroughs in the neighbouring
psychiatric hospitals where for various reasons it is not considered practical
for the responsible authority to undertake the work.
Supervisions and discussion of cases is available for all the Mental Health Social
Workers each being responsible for their own case load, and continuing care of the
patient. In this way the Social Worker concerned is better able to establish the
necessary relationship and provide effective long term support.
Day Centres — Elderly Mentally Infirm
Day centre facilities for the elderly mentally infirm remained a high priority in the
plans for the development of the service and it had been hoped that in addition to
extending the Centre at Park House Hostel which commenced as an experiment in 1966,
a further 45 place purpose built Day Centre would have been completed by 1969 to
supplement the service. Unfortunately there have been setbacks and the new centre is not
likely to be functional before 1972. The Borough is therefore grateful to the London
Borough of Harrow which continues to allocate vacancies at their Marlborough Day Centre.
Social Clubs
The two social clubs for the mentally ill are organised and run by the Department's
Officers who are also greatly assisted by the local voluntary organisation dealing with
mental health activities. It is felt there is also a considerable need for social clubs for
the mentally handicapped and educationally subnormal, but steps have not as yet been
taken to extend this area due to the already heavy demands made upon the Department's
Officers.
However this is a matter which will be receiving active consideration in conjunction
with the local voluntary societies.
Park House Hostel
Applications for admission to the hostel continued at a steady rate throughout the year
and the fact that the hostel did not have all 30 places occupied was mainly due to the
criteria for admission. Potential residents must be ready to return to their previous employment
or be ready to seek employment thus the danger of the hostel becoming silted with
residents unable to progress to unsupervised accommodation is minimised and more
70