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50
In my report for 1954 I sketched briefly the activites of the Duly Authorised
Officer Here I would stress just one aspect of their work namely their relationship
to the general practitioner
I have heard it said that in many areas the Duly Authorised Officer has in practice
usurped the function of the doctor in diagnosis Nothing could be wider of the mark
The Duly Authorised Officer has been in the position to be able to observe the
behaviour note the language record the conduct of the mentally sick person under a
variety of circumstances usually over fairly long or intermittent periods. He places
all his recorded observations at the disposal of the doctor when the latter is called
in either by the relatives or by himself on occasion. It is fairly obvious, the family
doctor with his multifarious distractions of the daily rounds and surgeries, cannot
devote such long periods to clinical observation at the bedside or elsewhere. So the
Duly Authorised Officer acts as his eyes and ears, and records his factual observations
which are set before the doctor for the latter's interpretation and subsequent initiation
of action. The Duly Authorised Officer then sets in train those necessary formalities
which simplify for the doctor, family and patient, transport to a mental hospital or
elsewhere. The general practitioner well knows the Duly Authorised Officer is indeed his
valuable henchman and ally, and not the dragooning tyrannical figure he is occasionally
held up to be.
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