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59
MENTAL HEALTH.
As requested by the Ministry the following details of the
service are set out:—
Administration.
The .Mental Health Sub-Committee was composed of 8
members of the Health Committee (plus the Chairman and ViceChairman
as ex-officio members), together with two representatives
of the Croydon Medical profession nominated by the Local
Medical Committee. The Sub-Committee held monthlv meetings.
The staff employed on this work comprised :— The Medical
Officer of Health—in general administrative control. The Deputy
Medical Officer of Health and four Assistant Medical Officers
of Health (approved bv the Ministry of Education for purposes
of Section 53 of the Handicapped Pupils and School Health
Services Regulations), as certifying Medical Officers for Mental
Deficiency. 5 Duly Authorised Officers. 1 Occupation Centre
Supervisor. 4 Assistant Occupation Centre Supervisors.
There is close personal contact with the Medical Officers and
Social Workers of the Hospital Psychiatric O.P. Clinic, the
Regional Hospital Board's O.P. Mental Deficiency Clinic and
the Child Guidance Centre. The Deputy Medical Officer of Health
continues to pay periodic visits to the Mental Hospital accepting
the majoritv of Croydon cases.
The only duty delegated to a voluntary association was the
supervision of 14 mental defectives placed under guardianship in
Brighton, bv the Guardianship Society.
Work carried out in the Community.
Under Section 28, National Health Service Act.
Mental Health Education.
While the basic causes of mental deficiency remain obscure,
no preventive action is possible. The investigations now proceeding
on the effects of virus infections during pregnancy may
eventually give an indication of one of the factors, but at present
this is mere speculation. For mental illnesses which develop later
in life, however, there must be preventive measures capable of
application in infancy and childhood comparable with those