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There are 21 private old people's homes in the Borough
providing 280 places and six homes owned and controlled byvoluntary
organisations providing 186 places. These are registered
by the Council and regularly inspected.
Many old people are reluctant to enter an old people's
home which, to some extent, means sacrificing their independence.
The less frail prefer to have their own flatlets the number of which
is less than the demand. Private housing associations such as
"Abbeyfield" and "Castlemead" are helping in this work by converting
houses into flatlets for elderly people, and the Borough's own
schemes of flatlets with a warden to provide general assistance
meet a real need.
At the end of 1966 there were 226 old people in Council's
residential homes, 62 in other authorities' homes and 61 in voluntary
homes for whom this Council was financially responsible. It is
estimated that the proportion of elderly will continue to increase and
this will require even greater provision of residential accommodation.

Meals on Wheels
The meals-on-wheels service which is administered by voluntary workers
throughout the Borough, makes a very significant contribution to the health
and well-being of many elderly folk living in their own homes. 52,000 meals
were served during 1966.
To improve the efficiency of the service and increase the number of
meals supplied, the Carshalton and Wallington/Beddington services were
combined during the year and the meals-on-wheels facilities at 8 Alcester Road
were expanded to cope with extra work.
The Physically Handicapped
The Council has a statutory responsibility for maintaining a register
of handicapped persons and ensuring that they are aware of the services
available to them. There is also responsibility for providing them with some
form of occupation and recreation and helping them to dispose of the work
they produce. This work has increased rapidly and whereas at the beginning
of 1966 there were approximately 570 people on the handicapped persons
register, this increased during the year to nearly 800.
The National Assistance Act specifies a handicapped person as one
who is deaf or dumb, or substantially and permanently handicapped by illness,
injury or congenital deformity, and it therefore includes persons suffering
from a wide variety of disability. Much of the work is concerned with
the adaptation of homes of the handicapped to make life easier. Walking
aids and gadgets to assist with household duties and personal needs are
made available on loan and in the year under review, 280 appliances were
distributed within the Borough.
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