View report page

The above figures reflect the heavy and increasing demands
for social work throughout the Mental Health Service. They also
underline the value of a flexible and closely knit service
covering both hospital and local authority fields of operation
and making optimum use of the available staff.
Social Clubs
Three clubs are run at The Oaks Day Hospital, one on Tuesday
afternoons for mentally infirm old people and two on Thursday
and Monday evenings for psychiatric patients.
Another club is run by the Local Health Authority on
Wednesday evenings at the Causton Hall for trainees attending
the Crosfield Industrial Unit and other physically or mentally
handicapped people. A fifth club is run for severely mentally
subnormal people by the Society for Mentally Handicapped
children and is held at St. James's Church Hall on Monday
evenings.
Students
In January 1964 the first students from the new course of
training in social work at the Croydon Technical College started
to attend for practical training at the Mental Health Centre,
49 Wellesley Road. They attended for a seven month period and a
second group started in September.
Social Science Departments of a number of universities
continue to ask for their students to come for periods of
practical work to the Mental Health Service and several of the
students have been accepted for periods of eight weeks. Another j
group of psychiatric social work students from the London School
of Economics came for a week* s visit of observation. In all 16
students attended for periods from one week to seven months in
duration.
Visits
In addition to the students referred to above the Mental
Health Service has been the subject of visits by a very wide
variety of people in different professions and from different
countries amounting to over 70 visitors. Seventeen visitors were
from 11 different overseas countries.