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14
necessary. One Occupation Centre assistant was given paid
leave to attend the whole-time course of the National Association
for Mental Health.
(II) Work undertaken in the community
(a) Under Section 28.—No special measures have been
taken under this section. The Health Committee were
advised that psycho-therapeutic group treatment facilities for
out-patients were provided by the Hospital Board and no
action was necessary by the local health authority. Measures
for the direct prevention of mental ill-health are difficult to
define. Emphasis by Doctors and Health Visitors on the
emotional needs of babies and young children has continued
at Infant Welfare Centres, as outlined in past reports. The
services of the Child Guidance Clinic provided by the
Hospital Board are freely invoked for later age groups.
Medical certificates for rehousing on the grounds of mental
ill-health due to home conditions are commonplace, but very
infrequently is a psychiatrist able to certify that housing is
the basic cause and alternative accommodation the only
necessary treatment. Direct advice by Mental Health
workers to prevent serious mental ill-health is therefore
usually limited to that given for physical ailments, viz. to
obtain treatment in the early stages when arrest and cure are
possible. The Corporation have arrangements for recuperative
holidays in selected voluntary homes for mentally ill
patients for periods up to 3 months, subject to psychiatric
recommendations.
(b) Under The Lunacy and Mental Treatment Act, the
5 Duly Authorised Officers' are each responsible for an area
of the borough. After office hours one is "on call," on a
rota basis for any urgent cases. For such urgent cases
requiring institutional care, admission is usually arranged
to Maydav Hospital which is designated to receive 3-day
observation cases. The psychiatric staff of the Mental
Hospital visit the Observation Ward, and the only difficulty
on the local health authority side has been on, occasions, the
question of depleted hospital staffs providing escorts.
Since 1948, there have been only two formal complaints
from relatives regarding measures taken by an Authorised
Officer. In neither case was any breach of statutory powers
disclosed, nor did serious consequences result. It is the policy