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79
need a specialised home, and it seems unlikely that this will be
forthcoming.
Some blind people have been admitted to the Council's Old
People's Homes. This arrangement has not always been successful
because the properties are old and thus unsuitable for this type of
resident.
Many vacancies are required for this category of
handicapped person. Although no home for the blind is envisaged in
the Plan, no difficulty is foreseen in accommodating a small number
of blind persons in purpose built old people's homes.
The borough is being extensively redeveloped and many of
those people on the Blind and Handicapped Persons Registers live in
older property which is to be demolished. In consequence the health
and welfare department has been called upon and will continue to be
called upon to accommodate those people whom the housing department
is unable to help, viz. those too old to be granted a tenancy, or too
infirm to transfer to warden controlled accommodation. Whilst
provision has been made in the Ten-Year Plan for this eventuality, it
serves to emphasise that the Plan is conceived as a realistic attempt
to meet the needs of the borough.
Several voluntary organisations have been particularly
helpful this past year. The British Diabetic Association who kindly
allowed the use of beds at Frederick Banting House, Kingston Hill, on
a short term basis, and the Society for Foreigners in Distress who
made beds available on a permanent basis at Libury Hall, near Ware,
both extending help beyond the scope of their respective constitutions.
For these and many other individual services this authority is very
grateful.
Social Welfare Officers for the Blind
With 300 people on the Blind Register and 52 on the Partially
Sighted Register, the borough's two social welfare officers with
special responsibility in this field, being qualified home teachers,
have larger caseloads than those suggested by the Minister of Health in
Circulars 3/51,4/63, namely, 100 blind persons and 20 partially
sighted persons per officer. Their duties are to visit the blind and
give instruction in reading and writing embossed type (Braille and
Moon), and various handicrafts etc. They assist the blind generally
by reading aloud, writing letters, helping to solve domestic problems,
and assisting the newly blind to adapt to their handicap. They also
run a weekly handicraft class in Surbiton.