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made for these children to be placed in foster care or placed under
guardianship, or admitted to the County Council s Weekly Boarding
Unit, or admitted to hospital. This accommodation can also be used as
temporary placement of a child in order to give the parents some relief
from the strain of his constant care.
Mentally subnormal adults who require alternative accommodation
can receive residential care either through guardianship, foster care, or in a
hostel.
Mentally ill persons under the provisions of the Mental Health Act,
1959, are now being cared for more in the community, rather than in a
hospital. Hostel accommodation is a valuable link in this rehabilitation
movement, acting as a halfway house between hospital and community.
Naturally, some of these people may find the change to ordinary life too
much for them to cope with and so may require re-admission either to
hospital or even back to the sheltered environment of hospital. It is
essential that the movement from hospital to hostel to community and
vice-versa should be easy and to achieve this there must be very close and
harmonious working arrangements between the hospital and community
services.
Persons in Need of Care and Attention
Under the National Assistance Act, 1948, the County Council as the
local authority concerned makes provision for the welfare of aged,
physically handicapped, blind and partially sighted, deaf and dumb,
epileptic and crippled persons, and also provides (a) residential accommodation
for people who by reason of age, infirmity, or any other
circumstances, are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise
available to them, and (b) temporary accommodation for persons who
are in urgent need thereof.
Section 47 of the Act enables the Court on the application of the
Medical Officer of Health to grant an order for the removal of a person
to a Welfare Home or Hospital. This Section can be invoked for the
compulsory removal of a person who (a) is suffering from grave chronic
disease or being aged, infirm or physically incapacitated, is living in
insanitary conditions, and (b) is unable to devote to himself and is not
receiving from others, proper care and attention. In practice every effort
is made to solve the problem by using the Home Help Service, the Home
Nursing Service and the help provided by Voluntary Bodies, etc., and
only invoking action under Section 47 as a last resort when everything
else has failed.
For administration of the Welfare Service the County is divided in
the same 10 areas as for the County Council's functions under Part III of
the National Health Services Act. Each has an Area Welfare Officer
acting under the supervision of the Chief Welfare Officer for the County,
The area officer for this district is Mr. H. G. Plummer, Kynaston Court,
Boxtree Road, Harrow Weald. (Telephone No. Grimsdyke 3131).