View report page

21
We now have several members of voluntary organisations who
call on old people to have a friendly chat, to wheel them out in invalid
chairs, or to assist them with their gardening. 1 would like to take
this opportunity to acknowledge my indebtedness to all those who
participate in this work. 1 would also like to thank those persons
who put cars at the disposal of old persons needing lifts to railway
stations, Hospitals, Post Offices, etc., during the long bus strike, and
those young relatives of old persons whom 1 visited, who were so quick
to notice that I was without transport and provided lifts to my next
case or to my home. Thanks to them the work was less hampered
than it otherwise would have been.
I paid 689 home visits during the year. Of the persons visited,
153 were admitted to Hospital and 92 died there. Thirteen of these
were referred to the Medical Officer of Health by worried general practitioners
who had made unsuccessful applications for hospital beds.
Reports on the social backgrounds were prepared, and with a supporting
note from the Medical Officer of Health, sent to the Medical
Superintendents of Hospitals, in each case with the desired result.
Since the opening of the geriatric unit at Chadwell Heath Hospital
under Dr. T. B. Dunn, such appeals have become rarer. The unit has
greatly eased the position. 1 visit the unit each Monday morning and with
Dr. Dunn, visit the patients and discuss any social problems. Such
matters as possible admission to Part 3 accommodation later, the finding
of a companion, adjustments to the structure of their homes to
make mobility easier and the provision of domiciliary services are discussed
and considered, and incidentally a valuable relationship established
so that by the time of their discharge I have become a familiar
member of the team at the Hospital. The result is that when I visit
them following their discharge I am welcomed as a friend, whereas
without this contact I would have been a remote official from the
Borough Council. After discharge, an endeavour is made to maintain
continued contact and to report to Dr. Dunn from time to time so
that any deterioration can be investigated before it becomes a major
problem. Here again the voluntary visitors play a part.
The most serious problem of the year was that of accommodation.
There are long waiting lists for old persons' accommodation of every
type. Many old persons received notice to quit; fortunately, eviction
orders have not followed except in one or two rare instances. Others
find their present accommodation inadequate or unsuitable. A large
number who made sacrifices during their younger days to purchase a
house now find themselves alone in a fairly large old-fashioned type
of property which they can no longer keep clean, the stairs of which
they can no longer climb, the large windows of which they can no
longer afford to furnish with curtains and gardens which they are
too feeble to cultivate. In certain quarters there is a tendency to
suggest that these persons can solve their problem by selling their
property and purchasing something more suitable. I challenge those
making this suggestion to find, for the price which a terraced or semidetached
property 50 years or more old. and possibly needing some
structural repair or exterior decorating, will realise, a small bungalow
or maisonette with modern conveniences and close to shops, or alternatively
to find a building society or local authority who will grant
a mortgage to an old-age pensioner.
Part 3 accommodation is sometimes the answer, but it appeals to
the minority only. To sell up one's cherished possessions and go to
live a communal life, often sharing a bedroom with persons whom one
has never met before, is not an attractive proposition. If in Part 3
accommodation bed-sitting rooms could be provided, and the applicants
be allowed to supply furnishings if they so desired, such accommodation
would have a wider appeal. Since the demand cannot be met,
even with conditions as they are, such a scheme would still fail to