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sterling work at the men's camp.
Six of the societies for mentally handicapped
children in the Middlesex area gave a total of £80 for
extras and entertainment which were greatly appreciated
at the camps.
A full programme of outings, trips, bathing, games
etc was carried through at each camp despite the very
changeable and cold weather. The success of the
camps, in terms of enjoyment of the trainees, was
almost entirely due to the untiring efforts of the
leaders and the devoted hard work of all the camp
staff. No untoward incidents occurred at either camp.
Each of the participating boroughs made their own
arrangements for assessing the contribution towards
the cost of the holiday to be made by or on behalf of
the trainees whom they sponsored.
Children
Six children from this borough were included in
the party of 50 who spent a fortnight at a holiday
camp at Park Place School Henley-on-Thames. This
was organised by the Borough of Hillingdon on behalf
of all the London boroughs in the former Middlesex
area and was reported to have been a successful and
enjoyable holiday for the children.
Short Term Care
During 1965 arrangements were made for 25
subnormal or severely subnormal patients, mostly
children, to have a total of 34 periods of short term
care of between two and eight weeks. Fifteen of these
patients were awaiting permanent admission to
hospital and short term care was necessary because of
crises at home or to give families respite from the
constant care of difficult patients. One child was
admitted for a period of assessment, another while his
mother was confined and another child to cover the
holidays between terms at a residential training home
for blind children. The other patients were given short
term care because of sickness in the family or to allow
parents to take a much needed rest or holiday.
Of the 34 periods of short term care arranged 28
were accommodated in National Health Service
hospitals, mainly Leavesden Hospital, and six were
placed in private homes.
Mental Illness
The transfer of mental welfare officer staff on
1st April was effected without any disruption to the
existing services due largely to previous planning and
the co-operation of the staff involved. An emergency
24 hour service was immediately set up and the local
general practitioners were able to call upon the
services of the mental health social workers to deal
with emergencies.
The staffing structure of the new establishment was
decided on the basis of the ten year health and welfare
services plan, and consisted of a chief mental welfare
officer, a deputy, three senior and six mental health
social workers. All but one of the mental welfare
officers are primarily concerned with problems of
mental illness, and one only with those of subnormality.
A liaison was established with the psychiatric
hospitals serving this borough, Springfield and St
Bernard's, and arrangements were made for patients
who were in need of after-care services to be referred
to this department.
The mental health social workers attend the local
psychiatric outpatients departments of the two
hospitals and in conjunction with the consultants it is
hoped that the seeds of preventative or 'pre-care'
social work services have been sown. One social
worker has been attached to each consultant who
deals with patients from this borough. He attends the
ward meetings as a member of a team and so maintains
contact with the patient throughout his illness
until rehabilitation is effected. This provides a continuous
social work service and enables the patient to
establish a relationship with one social worker
throughout the course of his illness.
Contact is also maintained with the family of the
patient and an effort made to solve or ameliorate the
problems in the family which may have precipitated
or even caused the patient's breakdown. In the process
of helping the patients when they break down and
during the period of recovery, the social workers
have established good relationships with the family
doctors and form a link between them and the
mental hospital.
During the year 710 patients were referred to the
mental health social workers by family doctors,
hospitals, police, members of the public and others.
The Hostel 24 Wood Lane Isleworth
This hostel is intended for patients recovering from
mental illness. A second purpose-built hostel is
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