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Welfare Trainees 3 Two seconded during 1968 to a
two-year course leading to the
certificate in social work; the
third will start a similar course
during 1969.
During 1968, Mr. J. Horak, Senior Psychiatric Social Worker,
left to take up an appointment as Principal Mental Health Social
Worker in Redbridge. Mrs. Gray, Psychiatric Social Worker, transferred
to Raphael House in Romford. Mr. B.R. Munday, Psychiatric
Social Worker, left to take up a post as Tutor on the new Child
Care Course at the North West Polytechnic. Mr. S. T. Mildenhall
Mental Welfare Officer, left to take up a post jointly with the
Mental Health Service at Redbridge and with Goodmayes Psychiatric
Hospital. All these vacancies were filled.
By the end of 1968, 15 social workers out of 26 were
professionally qualified.
Area Social Work Teams
From May 1968 onwards, the social work was reorganised
into area teams. Many months of preparation, including participation
in planning by the social workers themselves, resulted in three
teams being set up, each coinciding with the boundaries of
groups of the Department's clinics. The North East area included
the Harold Hill GLC estate and Harold Wood. The North West
area included Collier Row and Romford. The South area included
Cranham, Elm Park, Hornchurch, Rainham and Upminster.
Before May, there had been two main groups of social
workers. One, the mental health group, consisted of the mental
welfare officers and psychiatric social workers. The other
included the family caseworkers and the social welfare officers
who between them covered services for the physically (as opposed
to mentally) handicapped, the blind and the deaf, the elderly
with special problems, homeless families or families likely to
become homeless, and others in serious social need. People,
before May, tended to be helped according to their "presenting
symptoms" — mental illness, physical handicap, possible
homelessness etc. This could make it difficult to realise that
the actual help given was much the same in every case: to
assist people to make the best of their social situation; to get
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