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THE CARE OF THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
The re-organisation of London Government created a greater problem
for the new boroughs in regard to the care of the mentally hansticapped than
in any other field of health and welfare services. The previous administrative
structure had been based on County Hall and bore no relationship to the
area of the new Borough. There was, therefore, no foundation upon which to
build the transferred service. However, with the very considerable assistance
of the Surrey County Council and the London Borough of Merton with both
of whom reciprocal arrangements were made for the admission of sub-normal
children and adults to training centres, the Council was able to provide
a reasonably comprehensive service on the appointed day. Towards the end
of the year the Council approved a development plan prepared by the
Health Committee which provided for a sufficient number of junior training
centre places within the Borough to meet the needs of the foreseeable
future. When this comes to fruition many problems connected with the
transport of children and availability of places will be solved. So far
as can be seen at present it will be possible for arrangements made with
Surrey County Council for the admission of adults to their Industrial
Training Unit at Banstead to continue and for an increased number of places
to be made available for Sutton residents. This will have advantage to
both Authorities from many points of view.
The community care of the mentally ill also started from very small
beginnings. As will be seen from the ensuing paragraphs much has been
achieved in a short time but very considerable expansion will be necessary
to meet the needs of the mentally ill. In no field of work is there greater
scope for development. All members of Health and Welfare department staff
can make a significant contribution towards the prevention and early
detection of mental illness, as also can staff of other departments whose
work brings them into contact with children and families. It will be
necessary to encourage training in this field when sufficient staff are
available and possible arrangements for this are now under consideration.
The Borough is fortunate in having had transferred to them a hostel
in course of preparation for ex-mentally ill patients. This will be opened
early in 1966. The experience of other Authorities suggests that there
may be difficulty in appointing suitable resident staff for this and that for
the first year of operation the places available in the hostel may not be
fully taken up. Local Authority hostels of this sort are a comparatively new
venture and experience of their use is limited. Time will be necessary to
establish their value as a means of rehabilitation of the mentally ill towards
resuming a normal life in the community. Experience so far gained suggests
that this may be considerable.
During the period 279 referrals for assistance were received from
various agencies, i.e. general practitioners, hospitals, clinics and other
sources. All referrals were visited and investigated resulting in 141 patients
being admitted to Psychiatric Hospitals. Of these 13 were admitted on an
informal basis and 128 under statutory procedures. 37 patients were being
supported by the mental welfare officers at 31st March, 1966. Nine patients
were supported in voluntary hostels or homes outside the Borough for varying
periods during the past year and at 31st March, 1966 5 were in residence.
In addition to the number of positive referrals accepted, a substantial
number of enquiries and personal interviews connected with mental illness and
mental subnormality were dealt with.
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