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The yeild of money from the Seals Sale has been affected by two factors.
Firstly the expenses (particularly printing and postage) have risen very greatly
but secondly — and thank goodness! fewer contributors have given substantially
more per head. Only this trend has saved a difficult situation.
24 patients received help during the year and, of these, 5 were Richmond
residents attending clinics in the fringe areas (Ashford and Hounslow). It is still
a disappointment that more help is not being sought from the Twickenham area
where the existence of a Chest Care Committee does not appear to be widely
known, but it is in the rules of the Committee that help can only be given to people
who come through the local Chest Clinic or, if they are being treated at Chest
Clinics in the fringe areas, who are resident in the Borough of Richmond upon
Thames. It seems tragic that in the next-door Borough of Hounslow, where there
is no Chest Care Committee, there is known to be quite a number of deserving
cases who cannot benefit from our funds because of geography or the rules that
govern our activities.
The help given has followed the usual pattern:— fuel grants, Christmas
parcels and holidays for adults at Mudeford and for children at Sheephatch take
the bulk of our resources. Among the more ordinary contributions were for T.V.
licences for the housebound, car taxes for those who have to be mobile, clothing
purchases, fares to visit relatives, holiday transport expenses, insurance premiums,
etc., etc. T.B. may be on the way out, but chest cases are on the increase and the
problems of the housebound, especially when it is the wage-earner, are ever with
us. We will continue to deal with these problems so long as our resources permit".
Hostel for homeless tuberculous males.
This 16 place hostel, which was originally set up in 1951 by the former Middlesex
County Council and was transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon
Thames under the provisions of the London Properties (Transfer of Properties, etc.)
Order, 1964, closed for the reception of patients on the 11th December, 1969.
The hostel had not been fully occupied since the 1st April, 1965, and it had become
increasingly evident, because of the advances in the care and treatment of pulmonary
tuberculosis, that the need for this type of accommodation was diminishing.
Considerable difficulty had also been experienced in appointing the necessary domestic
staff.
The hostel was only closed following careful consideration of all the facts by the
Council and consultation with the North East and North West Metropolitan Regional
Hospital Boards. The 12 residents in the hostel at the closing date who, apart from
one. were the responsibility of other local health authorities, were placed in alternative
accommodation by the authorities concerned.
I am indebted to Dr. R. Heller and Dr. D. Macintosh of the Hounslow Chest
Clinic for the valuable help they have given over the years. I would also like to record
my appreciation of the services of Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Large who have been employed
at the hostel as Warden and Assistant Warden for the past 19 years.
In November, 1969, the Council approved of the premises being used as a hostel
for the adult mentally subnormal (see page 47).
CARE OF THE ELDERLY.
In a Borough such as Richmond upon Thames with its already high proportion of
over 65's in the population and the expectation of increase according to the national
prediction, the care of the elderly is a considerable problem.
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