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requiring medical or nursing care or attention. They are mostly elderly
persons who are not suffering from any physical ailment or disability but
who cannot manage by themselves in their own homes. The welfare
authority helps such persons by arranging their admission to some of their
homes. The County Council has over the years acquired premises for
this use. Recently they have had to call a halt to expansion.
Enforced Removal. The sanitary authorities have powers under
Section 47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948, to move to suitable
premises persons who (a) are suffering from grave chronic diseases or being
aged, infirm or physically incapacitated are living in insanitary conditions:
and (b) are unable to devote to themselves and are not receiving from
others proper care and attention.
If the Medical Officer of Health and another registered medical practitioner
certifies that it is necessary that a person shall be removed without
delay from the place he is living in, an application for a Removal Order
may be made to the Court or to a single justice. Up to this, no action
has been taken in this district under the powers given by this section.
Laundry Service. One of the big problems arising from the care
of some who ought really to be in hospital or in an institution but who
cannot be admitted there and therefore have to remain at home is the
soiling of the bedding and the clothing of the incontinent. This is more
particularly a problem of the aged but is not confined to them. There
are difficulties in such persons being helped. Local sanitary authorities
have very limited powers given them by Section 84 of the Public Health
Act, 1936, which authorises authorities to cause articles to be cleansed
in certain circumstances. The Hendon Group Hospital Management
Committee agreed to arrange for the actual work of treating the articles
of clothing to be done if the sanitary authority would meet the cost. The
Harrow Council agreed to this within the limit of their powers as to the
type of case to be helped. For the few who can be helped in this way,
the help is really substantial.
The arrangements which started in 1954 have worked smoothly. At
the beginning of the year 8 persons were being helped. There were during
the year 12 new cases. Because of death or removal from the district the
number provided with help at the end of the year was 10.
The period any patient had the help ranged from two weeks to three
years. A person once helped might not need that help to be continued
because he has been admitted to hospital or has died. The average cost
per week of each person being helped is about 3s.
The Welfare Department has two other main responsibilities apart
from that of providing residential accommodation for some classes or
person. One is to provide temporary accommodation for persons who
are in urgent need of it. The other is to provide for the welfare of persons
who are blind, deaf and dumb and of other persons who are substantially
or permanently handicapped by illness, injury, congenital deformity or
other such disability as may be prescribed by the Minister of Health.
For the administration of the welfare service, the county is divide
into the same ten areas as for the County Council's functions under
Part III of the National Health Service Act. Acting under the supervision