View report page

ing admission to institutions at the end of the year® The remaining l6 cases were placed
under statutory supervision®
In addition to the foregoing, 16 cases were investigated of which 11 were placed under
friendly supervision, 1 was not considered to be certifiable as a mental defective, 2 failed
to attend for examination and 2 were not dealt with under the Mental Deficiency Acts.
Supervision. At the end of the year there were 230(111 males and 119 females) under
statutory supervision, and 36 cases (23 males and 13 females) under friendly supervision® In
addition there were 20 patients (14 males and 6 females) on licence from institutions who were
supervised by the Council's officers.
All these cases are visited at varying intervals, according to the circumstances of the
individual case, by the duly authorised officers. The parents or guardians are advised as to
the best methods of training and caring for the defective.
Guardianship. Seven defectives (2 males and 5 females) were under Guardianship at the
end of the year.Of these, 3 were in the care of relatives.
In placing defectives under guardianship, the local health authority continued to use
the services of the National Association for Mental Health.
Conveyance to Institutions, etc. Patients are conveyed to institutions by the Council's
sitting-case cars, or by ambulance if necessary.
REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OP THE WEST HAM NERVE CLINIC.
(By Dr.George Somerville, M.D., D.P.M.,
Physician Supt., Goodro&yes Mental Hospital)
During the early months of 1948, this Clinic had, by steady growth, reached such a state
of activity as to demand an additional psychiatric session. Accordingly, a third out-patient
session was initiated on 12th April 1948, from 2 p.m. to 5 P.m., with Dr.Somerville as Consultant
Psychiatrist. Prom that date until the end of the year, Dr.Somerville and Dr.Glancy held weekly
sessions, both on Mondays, from 2 p.m. to 5 P.m., and Dr.Riordan held an afternoon session, weekly,
on Wednesdays.
The number of new cases seen in the course of the year was 247 - more than twice as many as
had been seen in the previous year. The number of patient-attendances amounted to 889 compared with
last year's figure of 472. Twenty-five patients continued treatment from previous years.
The Psychiatric Social Worker, Miss E.Batkin, was in attendance at all sessions up to 1st
December, 1948, and made an indispensable contribution to the smooth running and general effectiveness
of the Clinic.
Despite the ever increasing volume of work called for by the West Ham Nerve Clinic, the
general character and quality of treatment given was not permitted to deviate from the standard
which has been established by precept and practise at West Ham Nerve Clinic. Emphasis was on
active treatment, either by psychotherapeutic measures, physical measures or by both combined.
In many cases, sustained efforts were made to encourage healthy social adjustment through the help
of the Psychiatric Social Worker and the Social Therapy Club. Blectroplexis was given to Outpatients
at Goodmayes Hospital, and one out-patient was given Electroplexis under anaesthesia with
Pentothal and Tubo=Curare.
In the following tables, the sources of referral, the clinical varieties and the treatment
and disposal of the patients who attended the Clinic during the year 1948, are set out.
33