View report page

At the end of the year, there was a waiting list of 29 persons for permanent hospital
care.

Temporary care is easier to obtain and can usually be arranged so that parents of
sub-normal patients may be given a measure of relief from the often difficult work
of caring for them. This is especially necessary for those urgent cases which are on
the hospital priority waiting list. During the year, arrangements were made for
33 patients to be sent to Regional Hospital Board hospitals for periods of up to eight
weeks, and a further six patients were accommodated in privately managed establishments
when hospital care could not be immediately arranged.
SERVICES FOR THE MENTALLY ILL
The principal features of a service for the mentally ill living in the community are:—
(1) Social work to give the necessary support for the mentally ill living
within the community.
(2) Social centres for the mentally ill.
(3) Hostels to act as a transitory stage for the mentally ill to return from
the hospital into the community.
(4) Voluntary organization to support the statutory services.
(5) Hospital facilities for those either temporarily or permanently unable
to live within the community.
SOCIAL WORK
The mental health service is in the immediate care of a Principal Medical Officer.
The establishment of 11 mental health social workers already mentioned provides
for duties both with the mentally handicapped and the mentally ill.
The work of the mental health social worker with the mentally ill can be divided
into two main parts. He has, firstly, in co-operation with doctors who are specially
approved for this purpose, a number of statutory duties in connection with the legal
aspects of compulsory admission of patients to hospital. He often helps too with
the admission of voluntary patients. Secondly, the mental health social worker
gives support to patients and their families at all times.
The services of a mental health social worker can be obtained during working hours
by contacting the Health Department, and at other times, as an emergency, by a
doctor contacting the emergency control at King Edward Memorial Hospital.
SOCIAL CENTRES
There is at present no social centre in the Borough except for a small club run by
the Ealing Association for Mental Health.
Such a centre is essential and accordingly provision has been made for it in the
ten year plan. Its facilities would be available for patients attending the Industrial
Therapy Organisation unit and their friends and relatives, as well as for patients
living in the community and their friends and relatives. The amenities at such a
47