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9
an appropriate number of laundered sheets is delivered to the house.
A charge of sixpence per sheet is made which is covered by a supplementary
allowance for those in receipt of National Assistance. The
charge has not been known to cause hardship.

NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT, 1948—SECTION 47.
In many cases old people create their own difficulties by refusing
to leave their homes when they can only be properly cared for in
hospital or other suitable accommodation.
A satisfactory solution is generally arrived at without resort to
compulsion.
Under the National Assistance Act, 1948 and the Amendment Act,
1951 the Medical Officer of Health can apply to the Court or to a
Magistrate for a compulsory Removal Order which has the effect of
placing and detaining the patient in hospital or home.
An old man living in a Council flat had been under supervision for
a considerable period. He was provided with the services of a Home
Help but in spite of this he neglected himself and had to be cleansed
on a number of occasions by a relative or the District Nurse. There
is no doubt that he would have been better cared for in a Home for
Old People, but he refused this with such vehemence that it was
decided to let him remain in his own home for as long as possible.
In January his health began to deteriorate rapidly, and since he
now refused to agree to admission to hospital, application was made to
a Magistrate and a Removal Order was granted under the National
Assistance (Amendment) Act, 1951. This old man was removed to
hospital where he settled quite happily, hut died some weeks later.