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39
For the purpose of commencing the work at Chearn, it is felt that handloom
weaving (with looms of various sizes, to meet the varying physical
capacity of patients, some sufficiently small to attach to the bedstead in
bedridden cases), basketry and raffia work would be suitable occupations,
fulfilling moreover the requirements of paragraph (c) above in regard to
occupations capable of continuance after discharge from the sanatorium. It
is felt that, for patients of the type dealt with at Cheam, it is useless to
attempt to provide an occupation of a type which theoretically might enable
them to earn as much as a healthy man. Patients sufficiently well to return
to their former trade, or to another branch of such trade, will continue to
receive wages in the neighbourhood of their original earnings; those not
capable of a full day's work will require to take up an occupation meeting
in general the requirements set out in (b) above, and it is felt that the occupations
here suggested, together no doubt with others which may be added
later, will enable them—granted a market for the goods—to add from 20/to
30/- per week, or more in some cases, to the family income, while avoiding
the risk of overstraining themselves, and of thus further damaging their
earning capacity, by attempting to take up too strenuous an occupation.
The question of leatherwork was considered; it might be possible to
include this in due course, but it was felt to require too much technical
knowledge and too much manual dexterity to recommend at the present
stage, while the cost of the sewing machines is such as to prevent the patient
from continuing the work at home—such machines would have to be pro.
vided in central workshops.
Given hand-loom weaving, raffia work and basket-making as the initial
occupations, it would no doubt be possible to get a part-time instructor versed
in all three branches, to visit the sanatorium for four to five hours a day,
for a wage of about £3 per week.
The approximate cost of such an arrangement would be as follows:—
Initial Equipment 100
Alteration to outbuildings for workshops,
say 25
125
£ £
Annual Renewal of materials 50
Salary of instructor 150
200
Proceeds of sale of articles and materials,
say 75
Net annual deficit, about £125
The following observations are necessary:—
1.—The estimate, both for expenditure and for income, assumes that
the scheme of occupational employment at Cheam will apply to Surrey and
Kent cases as well as to Croydon patients. It would not be in the interest
of the patients to differentiate between those sent in by the several authorities,
and the Surrey and Kent County Councils should be asked to co-operate in
this work, which is directly for the welfare of their patients, and to pay
their proportion of any deficit resulting.
2.—It is unlikely that in the first year the sale of materials will realise
any considerable sum, owing, on the one hand, to damage and waste in
the earlier months during the stage of learning, and on the other to the
need for experience as to the most suitable channels for the disposal of
goods. It would probably be wise to regard the deficit {in the annual expenditure
for the first year as £175 (not £125), in addition to the £125 to be
spent on the initial equipment.