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It will be seen that most patients come from the area closest to the Centre and that
the facilities which the Centre has offered in the past have, I am glad to report,
speedily become known and been used by the practitioners of Southall. On the
other hand, few patients have been referred from Acton, presumably owing to the
greater distance which has to be travelled.
Transport has again proved a major difficulty during the year. This is despite
co-operation from the ambulance service whose difficulties can be appreciated.
Unfortunately, the time of the Centre's needs coincides with the maximum demand
on the ambulance service generally, that is, in the early morning and late afternoon.
This has resulted in patients arriving late in the morning with a consequent shortening
of the working day and leaving at irregular times in the afternoon, which is unsettling
for them.
In addition to the normal routine of the Centre, there have been, as usual, some
special outside activities for the benefit of the patients. An outing to Eastbourne
was arranged during the summer and a party of 34 expressed their great appreciation
of this trip. At Christmas, the now traditional party was held and the choir from
St. Thomas' Church sang carols and entertainment was provided by an accordionist
and a drummer. Harvest Festival gifts were received from Oaklands Junior School
and each person attending the Centre at that time was given a parcel of fruit and
groceries. Gratitude is due to all those who have helped in these social activities.
There is no doubt at all that the old people derive very great pleasure from them.
The Centre has again been helped by a generous donation from the Hanwell
Carnival and Fete Society and a cheque for £460 was presented to the Chairman for
the general use of the Association.
At the end of 1965, the Centre was approaching the completion of the first five
years of its existence. Intended originally to be experimental in purpose, there
now seems no doubt that the Centre will continue in its present form. One of the
difficulties in the past has been that of following-up patients when they have been
discharged from the Centre back to their own homes. The criticism has been made
that it is possible for patients returned into an unsatisfactory environment to
deteriorate after a successful course of treatment and so to lose what they had gained.
Plans are now afoot for the building of an extension to the present Centre which
would serve as a follow-up clinic and in this way a routine check could be kept on
the mental and physical condition of patients who had been discharged from the
Centre after a period of treatment there.
SOILED LINEN CLEANSING SERVICE
This service, which was started in Ealing in 1952 under Section 84 of the Public
Health Act, 1936, provides a regular collection of soiled clothing and bed linen for
laundering. A public health inspector is required to certify on behalf of the Medical
Officer of Health that articles are in so filthy a condition as to render their cleansing,
purification or destruction necessary in order to prevent injury or danger of injury
to the health of any person in the premises. The work is undertaken by two driverdisinfectors
with the co-operation of the Baths Laundry Service for the Ealing and
Southall area and Neasden Hospital for the Acton area. Application for the service
should be made to the Medical Officer of Health and no charge is made to the
applicant.
Laundry is collected and delivered twice weekly in containers provided by the
Health Department.
The work of washing and ironing the articles collected from the Acton area is
carried out entirely by Neasden Hospital but, in Ealing, the driver-disinfectors assist
the laundry staff by sorting and marking the soiled articles prior to washing and
ironing by the laundry staff.
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