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45
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
Sara Syrop, med. dip. univ. of warsaw, d.t.m. & h., d.c.h., d.p.h.
Senior Medical Officer.
H. J. Vagg, a.r.s.h., a.i.s.w., Principal Mental Health Officer.
Introduction
The revolutionary advances in the treatment of mental illness
in the past twenty years together with the changing public attitudes
towards the mentally disordered brought about the Mental Health
Act, 1959. Since the Bill was passed, on the one hand this change
in public attitudes towards the mentally ill gathered momentum,
and on the other the method of applying the principles of public
health and treating mental illness on a par with physical illness
became accepted.
As in physical illness the problems of mental ill health can be
broadly divided into those of:
Effective prevention.
Early recognition.
Suitable treatment.
Adequate after care.
Three of these four problems lie outside the scope of hospital
service and two, namely prevention and after care, are the statutory
responsibility of the Local Health Authority.
The First Quarter of 1965
The Mental Health Service administered from County Hall,
Maidstone, was based on three District Offices, each manned by
a District Officer and his Assistant. The District Officer was an
all-purpose Social Worker vested in addition with statutory duties
under the Mental Health Act. He was thus neither able nor
expected to develop social case work. He was further hampered
by the lack of Mental Health establishments, e.g. Hostels, Work
Centres, etc.
Situation on 1st April, 1965
In its difficulties, the Mental Health Service of the Borough was
not alone. Every new London Borough has its own problems. The
Inner Boroughs took over the existing L.C.C. Service and worked
out their own pattern. The Outer Boroughs often had to "start
from scratch". The Mental Health Section set out from the
beginning to lay down the policy of a comprehensive Mental Health
Service.