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52
The Department felt that such policy would not be in the
interest of the service. Leaving, if one only could, the national
shortage of P.S.W.s on one side, the difficulties in recruiting and
retaining staff of suitable calibre, would be much increased.
Furthermore, the achieving of the generally accepted aim, "one
client—one social worker", would recede further into the future.
It followed therefore that efforts must concentrate towards
in-service training and staff development. The first term applies
to secondment on courses leading to a professional qualification, the
second to day or week release courses and lectures. The London
Boroughs' Training Committee proved to be a most valuable body
to provide such training and the Council most generous in approving
attendances at seminars, courses and conferences for our staff at all
levels.
The figures given below apply only to lectures given by professional
staffs other than officers of the Health Department. Altogether
the officers of the section attended 92 such sessions in 1966, making
an average of 8.5 sessions per officer. (These figures do not include
the in-service training for the staff of the Training Centre, which
will be considered separately.)
On the point of the in-service training proper, one Mental
Welfare Officer was away on the Younghusband course and one
trainee was accepted as a student for a similar course to start in
September, 1967.
Training future Social Workers from outside the Borough
One of the signs of the recognition of the quality of the service
provided has been the application from the London School of
Economics to place their students for the P.S.W. qualification with
the Authority's Mental Health Service.
In addition, the senior officers of the section are involved in
helping the Education Department to organise the further education
courses, e.g. the Principal Mental Welfare Officer gave lectures
during the autumn course, on "Family Stresses".
Towards a Comprehensive Mental Health Service
The proof that the Department has been successful in building
up a corps of field staff capable of case work came from hospital
psychiatrists as a request for attachment of two M.W.O.s to two
Consultants working in the Borough, and this request was readily
met. The attachment takes the form of attendances at the clinic
and carrying out the support of the patient and his family on the
lines hitherto reserved for the hospital P.S.W. (Both M.W.O.s are
academically qualified, one a P.S.W., the other a C.S.W.) A third
M.W.O. was seconded to the Director of the Child Guidance Clinic
where she works most of the time. All three M.W.O.s retain