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26
NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT, 1948.
(Section 47).
One Court Order was applied for, and obtained, in respect
of the removal to suitable premises of a person in need of care
and attention.
CAKE OF THE AGED.
Aproximately 14% of the population comes into the category
of persons of pensionable age-a figure which will be verified
when the census figures are available. It is, however, not
practicable to give an accurate estimate of the number of these
persons who require additional aid, nor the number in each of
the four categories mentioned later.
It is increasingly obvious that the care of the aged is an
urgent social problem. With the coming of the Welfare State,
it would seem that there is a certain lack of charity creeping
into the attitude of some families, and that it is a more or less
accepted principle that every problem of welfare is one for the
State and not for the individual or the family. It is only fair
to say, however, that this is very much tied up with the economic
problems of the day and there are many families who cannot
afford either the time or the money to care for an elderly
relative.
The real factor that makes the problem of the care of the
aged so acute is the inadequacy of the institutional provisions to
replace those at one time provided by the Board of Guardians
and later transferred to the County Council under the Act of
1929. Authorities that are now concerned with the statutory
care of the aged, excluding such services as National Assistance
and National Insurance, are as follows:-
1. Regional Hospital Board.
Provision of hospital beds for those aged persons requiring
hospital treatment.
2. Kent County Council.
(a) Provision of residential homes for the aged infirm unable
to be cared for at home.
(b) Home Helps.
(c) Home Nurses.
3. Local District Authority.
(a) Provision of houses for the aged who are able to look
after themselves.
(b) Certain sections of the National Assistance Act, 1948.
especially with regard to Burial and to removal, by Courts
Order, from insanitary conditions.