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25
Mental Hospital.
Patients requiring treatment in mental hospitals have for
many years been admitted to institutions under the jurisdiction of
the Essex County Council.
Owing to the need for additional accommodation the County
Council was obliged to give notice to terminate these arrangements
with East Ham, since when vacancies have been obtained at
various mental hospitals throughout the country.
The formation of the Joint Committee of the Corporations of
the County Boroughs of East Ham and Southend, of which
Councillor H. B. Harper, J.P., is Chairman, was the outcome of
negotiations by these Authorities to provide facilities for the treatment
of mental cases' from both areas.
The magnitude of such a task with its numerous legal and
other intricacies precluded the rapid development of any scheme,
but the fact that the deliberations of the Joint Committee have
reached an advanced stage in so short a time, affords the utmost
satisfaction.
The site at Runwell has been compulsorily purchased, and the
plans for a new Mental Hospital embodying the " Villa " principle,
which will permit of care and treatment upon the most modern
and scientific lines, have been approved by the Joint Committee.
It is anticipated that building will commence about the middle
of 1934. Meanwhile, patients from East Ham are provided for
in the following institutions :—