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HOME HELP SERVICE
This Service is supervised by a Senior Home Help
Organiser and the Borough is divided into four areas with a
Home Help Organiser responsible for the service allocated to
each area. The Service is administered centrally, four clerical
assistants being available to undertake the clerical work for
each of the four areas. The Organisers' duties consist of
assessment of need for the Service, the provision of help, and
the supervision of the staff. The Domestic Help Organisers also
undertake similar duties in respect of the Night Attendant
Service and the Good Neighbour Service, details of which are
given below.
The statistics relating to the Domestic Help Service are
given in the table below. The number of requests for assistance,
the number of patients provided with help, and the total number
of hours of service given were all lower than the equivalent
figures for 1968, but the number of patients being provided with
a Home Help at the end of the year was 1,791, compared with
1,678 at the end of 1968. Occasional difficulties have arisen in
the recruitment of Home Helps in some parts of the area, but
this has been overcome by using help from other parts of the
Borough. The question of recruitment is a constant one, as
there is a considerable turnover of staff among the 400 parttime
Home Helps employed, but all requests for help, where
need existed, have been covered.
The assessment of the need for a Home Help and the
degree of such assistance required is undertaken with the
greatest care. Upon referral, the Organiser has to determine the
ability of the patient to undertake certain tasks, the total amount
of work required and the amount of work, including the time
involved, for which the services of a Home Help are required.
Some patients are unable to do anything around the house and
therefore require maximum assistance, but others, who have
some mobility, can do much for themselves and require help
only for heavy cleaning tasks, shopping, etc. The Home Help
Organiser, therefore, has to ensure that assistance is not
given too generously as this would obviate the necessity for
the patients to make an effort to do those things for themselves
which they can accomplish. This policy has the effect of keeping
the patient mobile and self-reliant as far as possible. It
does, however, sometimes cause patients to compare the amount
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