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Temporary Care
The stress that the care of a subnormal child exerts on a family sometimes
makes it necessary for the parents to be given relief by arranging short-term
residential care for the child. The parents can thereby enjoy some respite and
are enabled to take a holiday. Fifteen patients were admitted to hospital, and a
further six persons were temporarily placed in privately run establishments.
Holiday Camps
Summer camps for subnormal children and adults were held. The Council
accepted financial responsibility in a certain proportion of cases for those attending
the camps. Families who were unable to meet the full cost contributed according
to an assessment scale.
Thirteen children and 30 adults went to camps at St. Mary's Bay Holiday
Camp, Romney Marsh, Kent, and the Suntrap Residential School, Hayling Island.
RESEARCH
We agreed to co-operate in an investigation into the incidence of certain types
of infection in mentally subnormal children initiated by Professor S. D. Elek, of the
Bacteriology Department of St. George's Hospital Medical School (University of
London), and a number of parents of mentally handicapped children gave consent
for their children to participate.
No report has been made to date on this investigation.
(See Statistical Tables 25, 26 and 27.)
HOME HELP SERVICE
Under Section 29 of the National Health Service Act, 1946, a local health
authority may make arrangements for providing domestic help for households where
such help is required owing to the presence of any person who is ill, lying-in, an
expectant mother, aged, or a child not over compulsory school age within the
meaning of the Education Act, 1944.
Although there was improvement in the number of home helps recruited during
the year the amount of help available continued to be below demand. A determined
recruitment drive resulted in 138.3 whole-time equivalent home helps being in post
at the end of the year, a figure still well below the full establishment of 160.
By a feat of organisation the Home Help Organiser supported by her deputy
and two assistants managed to provide home help for most cases but frequently the
hours of help supplied were limited. However, I feel that an equitable and reasonable
service has been provided by the application of the priority scheme laid down
by the Council.
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