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75
The maintenance and expansion of this service is
considered vital to the proper conduct of the welfare services and
accordingly the Borough Council decided to supplement the service
for the maintenance of the meals on wheels service whilst at the
same time continuing to make full use of the voluntary workers who
have hitherto given so generously of their time., To this and the
former staff canteen situated at the rear of the Surbiton Council
Offices has "been allocated for use as a meals on wheels kitchen and
the service will he inaugurated early in 1966. Staff will he
employed on the establishment to cook and serve the meals which will
continue to be distributed by the voluntary organisations.
The value of a meals on wheels service is in direct
relation to its availability in that persons who cannot provide their
own hot meals require help as often as possible. Past experience
has shown that relatives and neighbours almost invariably provide
help at week-ends but that during the working week it is frequently
necessary to provide a home help on those days that meals on wheels
are not available. It is intended that the Council's meals on
wheels service will provide meals on five days a week wherever they
are required.
WELFARE OF THE HANZDICAPPED
A register of physically handicapped persons is maintained
in accordance with Section 29 of the National Assistance Act, 1948,
whereby a local authority has power to make arrangements for
promoting the welfare of those persons who are blind, deaf or dumb,
and others who are substantially and permanently handicapped by
illness, injury, congenital deformity or any other disability that
may be prescribed by the Minister of Health.
The Blind Register
A register is kept of those persons who wish to obtain the
advantages of registration and come within the definition of
blindness given in the Appendix III to the Ministry of Health
Circular 4/55, namely, "so blind as to be unable to perform any work
for which eyesight is essential". This disability refers to any
work and not the particular occupation of the person being examined,
and does not take account of any other physical or mental defect.