View report page

Health Department,
Civic Centre,
Dagenham.
To: THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND BURGESSES OF THE LONDON BOROUGH OF BARKING.
This report covers the second full year of the new London Borough of Barking.
So many changes took place during the year and so much progress was made that I
can only draw attention to some of the main features in this short introduction.
Those interested in more detail will find it in the main body of the report.
It is never very difficult to put forward innumerable projects which would
make for progress in a service-especially if the service includes Preventive
Medicine. Unfortunately, there must always be the limiting factors of finance
and of manpower which must of necessity slow down progress in many directions
desirable as it might appear to be. This means selecting priorities, never an
easy matter.
In 1965, the London Borough of Barking selected as one of its major priorities
the development of its mental health services. During 1967, progress was made in
planning and putting into operation some of the projects in mental health which
the Health Committee felt were of major importance. During the year the Porters
Avenue Day Centre was opened. This centre was acquired during 1966 and the end of
1967 seems an appropriate time to review the activities carried on there. This
will be found in the mental health section of the report, but I would particularly
like to draw attention to the transfer of the Westfield Psychiatric Social Club to
the Porters Avenue Centre. This club provides a free and easy source of social
contact and a link with voluntary activities in the field of mental illness.
The maisonette reported on in 1966 proved its value during 1967 in helping
towards the rehabilitation of patients. It is hoped to extend and develop this
idea. It is particularly pleasing to record the acceptance of the patients by
other tenants living in neighbouring flats.
Developments in the field of subnormality also took place during the year.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Early, Supervisor in charge of the Castle School and the
Gale Street annexe for older girls, resigned to take up a teaching appointment at
the Chiswick Polytechnic. We wish her well in her new appointment. Following
Mrs. Early's resignation, it was decided to place the Gale Street annexe for older
girls under the control of Mr. Matthews, Manager of the Adult Training Centre.
The new centre scheduled for opening in 1968 was well under way at the end
of 1967. Meanwhile, planning for further developments continues and will no
doubt form part of the annual report in future years.
Health Education must also be one of our major priorities, and here too
progress was made during the year; progress, for instance, towards the giving
of courses in health instead of sporadic talks on various subjects. Although the
Health Education Officer and his assistant are beginning to give their attention
more to organisation than to conducting courses themselves, I look forward to the
time when their function will be to use their expertise to organise courses
carried out by others, to give in-service training to teachers, health visitors
and others (teaching the teachers), to assess what needs to be taught to specific
groups (by planned surveys into what people really need to learn) and to
investigate the results of health education as they relate to both the acquisition
of knowledge and to any change in attitude or behaviour resulting from what has
been learnt.
14