London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Bromley 1967
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bromley]
This page requires JavaScript
69
Short Term Care
Over and above restricting the long term admissions referred
to above, the hospital authority found itself unable to meet the
commitments under the Mental Health Act, 1959. Ministry
Circular 5/52 suggests that short term care will be available to
meet social emergencies and/or to provide temporary relief for
the family. Summer 1967 brought disappointment to many families
who had already arranged a holiday on the understanding that
their handicapped member would for that period be admitted to
hospital. The representations to the hospital authority were met
with reiterations of their own difficulties and little promise of
improvement. It was up to the Borough to secure suitable
vacancies and to meet the cost in voluntary homes. Table VII
below gives appropriate figures from which it would be noted
that the Council provided short term care placements for 36 cases,
against 29 provided by the hospital authority.
TABLE VII
CASES PROVIDED WITH SHORT TERM CARE IN 1967.
| Hospital Placements | Other Placements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Under 16 | Over 16 | Total Hospital Placements | Under 16 | Over 16 | Total Other Placements | Total all Placements |
| Subnormal | 2(4) | 3(3) | 5(7) | -(-) | 1(-) | 1(-) | 6(7) |
| Severely Subnormal | 16(13) | 8(14) | 24(27) | 5(3) | 1(1) | 6(4) | 30(31) |
| TOTALS: | 18(17) | 11(17) | 29(34) | 5(3) | 2(1) | 7(4) | 36(38) |
At the same time, work started to put forward a scheme for
an organised "School Holiday" to take place in the Spring of 1968.
With the subnormality hospitals gradually assuming a
marginal role in the whole spectrum of the services, the community
services were bound to expand.
Play Groups
The St. Mary's Centre, Hayes, has flourished and as from the
Autumn Term has functioned every day of the week, accommodating
24 children in all. Its success from the start is due
primarily to the professionalism of the staff involved. The Centre
accommodates every degree of handicap, providing relief to the
mother in cases of the most severely and often multiple affected
child, stimulation and nursery education to the children awaiting
Special School and Training Centre placements.
The Centre admits children from the whole of the Borough,
and transport is arranged by the parishioners. The Centre is an
excellent example of a smooth partnership between voluntary and