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In another case, also an old lady, it was found necessary for the
Council to apply to the Court for an Order under Section 47 of the 1948
Act after every effort to get her to go to an Old Peoples Home had failed.
This old lady was living in a house which was in a deplorable
condition, uncleaned, unswept and unheated, and with innumerable cobwebs
everywhere. There were a large number of animals, including birds and cats,
in the house, which were also being neglected. She was incontinent and
suffering from ulcerated legs, and was at times confused. She dressed in
religious garb which was always dirty and unkempt. She refused the services
of a Home Help and would only accept Meals on Wheels occasionally.
After marry fruitless efforts to get her to enter an Old Peoples Heme,
application was made to the Court for an Order which was granted, and she
was admitted to a Welfare Heme. This Order was later extended for a period
of three months, and varied to enable her to be transferred to hospital. The
Order was extended once more for a period of three months, but thereafter the
patient remained voluntarily in hospital.
A number of other cases were brought to the notice of the Public Health
Department during the year, but in each instance a satisfactory solution was
arrived at without resort to compulsion.
An increasing amount continues to be done for the elderly, particularly
by the local voluntary services, and mention should be made of the many
excellent services which are provided by the Guild of Social Welfare. The
District Nurses and Home Helps also play an important part in keeping many
old people in reasonable comfort in their cwn homes, and the close co-operation
which exists between the Geriatric Department of St. Heller Hospital, the
Guild of Social Welfare, the local doctors and your Medical Officer of Health
is of tremendous value in dealing with these complex problems.
HOSPITALS
The South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board is responsible for
the provision of beds for cases of infectious disease. Patients from the
Wimbledon area are admitted to St. George's Hospital, Tooting, or Wandle
Valley Isolation Hospital, Beddington Corner, Miteham, or, if no beds are
available, to a hospital in the London area.
The Wimbledon Hospital and the Nelson Hospital, Merton, are the local
hospitals for general treatment for both inpatients and outpatients.
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