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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.
MENTAL DEFICIENCY.
The material for this section has been largely supplied by
Dr. T. W. Hill, Deputy Medical Officer of Health, who is
responsible for this work in the area, and to him I am indebted
for his interest in the welfare of the defectives and in the progress
of the Authority's scheme.
Statistics.
On 31st December, 1936, there were 757 defectives on the
register. During the year 1937 the number of new cases dealt
with was 59, and the number of cases removed from the register
was 24. On 31st December, 1937, the number of defectives on
the register was 792.
Distribution of defectives. The manner in which the
defectives who were on the register at the end of the year had
been dealt with is shown in Table I.
It will be seen from the above table that 245, or 30.9 per
cent., of the total number of defectives on the register are receiving
institutional care and training, while 547, or 69.1 per cent.,
are being cared for in private homes. While the number of cases
in institutions at present is approximately one-third of the total
cases on the register, this is not a true indication of their needs,
since if sufficient accommodation were available the number of
patients receiving institutional care and training would be
considerably increased.
New cases dealt with. The method of disposal of the
new cases who came to the notice of the local authority during
the year is shown in Table II.
Of the 59 cases which were placed on the register during
the year, 33—21 males and 12 females—were notified by the local
education authority under section 2(2) of the Act of 1913. The
source of information in respect of the remaining cases was as
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