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40
ancillary treatment however, would play only a part. The
companionship and sense of return to the community would
go far to restore their morale which would in turn doubt
less benefit their physical condition We already have an
example of this in the remarkable success of our Work
Centres in the mental and physical rehabilitation of old
people who attend them It is envisaged that an old person
would attend for one month and would then it is hoped
be sufficiently rehabilitated to remain at home for many
months Re-admission might be necessary at a later date
The General Practitioners in the area have given support
to this proposal and at a meeting in January, 1959,
their representatives attended and discussed methods of
implementing the scheme.
With regard to the practical measures to bring it
into operation we have made considerable progress. On the
financial side the Borough Council have allocated a
substantial grant for 1959 and for 1960 and the Minister
of Health has given his approval to this In addition two
industrial concerns in the Borough have been generous in
their offers of help We have an offer from one of a sum
which I consider would be sufficient for the equipment of
the premises and from another we have the loan of a
suitable hut free of charge, for the use of the experiment
for five years As to the provision of a site, there is
an excellent site available in Greenford on land belong
ing to the Council. The paid staff would consist of a
Sister-in Charge a nurse, a secretary, a part-time
physiotherapist and domestic help The annual cost of
this, together with services is likely to be about £3.000
The County Ambulance Service would be able, it is believed.
to transport the old people from their homes to the Centre.
To summarize., the object of this Day Centre is the
rehabilitation of old people who are housebound, to
prevent their admission to hospital and thereby it is
hoped, to make their lives happier This work can only be
done if it is directly related first to the work of the
General Practitioners for their own patients who are in
the Centre and secondly to other services provided by the
Borough Council such as Meals on Wheels, Holidays for Old
People, and Chiropody, The scheme is a pilot one for five
years, by which time it should be quite clear whether
this method of approach to the problem is successful.
In order to form a close link in the chain of organisation,
it is suggested that practitioners from Greenford,