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46
Staff
Six District Officers transferred from Kent County Council
were designated Mental Welfare Officers and paired off to be based
at the three District Offices:
77, Tweedy Road, Bromley, now 17, Palace Grove.
12, Beckenham Road, Beckenham, now 69, Croydon Road,
Penge, S.E.20.
County Offices, The Walnuts, High Street, Orpington.
Each M.W.O. has to cater for a population of approximately
50,000.
M.W.O. as Specialised Case Worker
The concept of M.W.O. as Case Worker with statutory duties
was introduced and an intense in-service training programme
formulated. In addition to regular lectures, discussions and visits
to places of interest locally, it was arranged for each Mental Welfare
Officer to gain experience by spending a week in a large Mental
Hospital. In conjunction with the London Boroughs Training
Committee, two Mental Welfare Officers attended weekly Seminars,
whilst one Mental Welfare Officer is away on a "Younghusband
Course". The Council has also been generous in allowing the
officers of the Section to attend National Conferences and Meetings
relative to mental health.
Liaison with Hospital and Family Doctors
Very close liaison at all levels both within and outside the
Health Department is inherent in the concept of social work, and
in no other field is this close co-operation as important as in the
field of mental health. Frequent informal consultations were soon
established with the hospital service and the General Practitioners.
To publicise the changing role of the Mental Welfare Officer,
a Meeting for Family Doctors, under the title "Mental Health in
the New Borough, The Present, The Future and The Priorities",
was held in December, 1965, and it was generally acclaimed as a
most successful function.
Links with Other Services
Since the majority of school leavers from Special Schools come
under voluntary supervision by the Mental Welfare Officers, the
Mental Health Section works in close liaison with Special Schools
and the Youth Employment Service. The Youth Employment
Service has been most helpful in work placement for the more able
youngsters from the Training Centres.
The voluntary agencies have always supplemented in cash and
kind where the statutory services are not empowered to provide.