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SECTION 51 - MENTAL HEALTH.
The Mental Health Service continues to be administered by the Health Committee of the
local health authority. The Medical Officer of Health is responsible for the organisation
and control of the service.
Staff.
(a) Medical.
The Deputy Medical Officer of Health is responsible to the Medical Officer of Health
for medical supervision, direction and administration. This officer and the Chief Assistant
School Medical Officer are approved by the local health authority for the purposes of the
Mental Deficiency Act, and carry out the medical examination of mental defectives.
Three local general practitioners, who are approved by the Minister of Health for the
purpose of making recommendations under the Mental Treatment Act, are available when required.
(b) Lay Administration.
(i) A Senior Duly Authorised Officer (supervisory) and three male Duly Authorised
Officers carry out various duties under the Mental Deficiency, Lunacy and Mental Treatment
Acts.
(ii) The establishment provides for a full-time Psychiatric Social Worker whose main
duties are in connection with pre-care and after-care work for mental patients. This post
became vacant in June and at the end of the year all efforts to obtain the services of a
suitably qualified person had been unsuccessful. The Psychiatric Social Worker has a halftime
clerical assistant.
(iii) A qualified Supervisor, two Assistant Supervisors and a male Handicraft
Instructor at the Occupation Centre, The Handicraft Instructor was a new appointment made
during the year.
Clerical assistance for this service Is provided, as and when required, from the
Health Department staff.
Co-ordination and Joint Use of Officers.
Co-operation between the officers of the Regional Hospital Board, the Hospital Management
Committees and the Local Health Authority continues to be maintained as in previous years.
The Physician Superintendent of Goodmayes Hospital and his staff are available for consultation,
if required, under the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts as also is the Physician
Superintendent of South Ockendon Institution under the Mental Deficiency Acts. Points of
view are freely exchanged and when specialist advice is needed this is readily given by the
officers of these two hospitals.
The Council's Duly Authorised Officers supervise mental defectives in the area on
licence from institutions. They also visit and report on home circumstances of defectives
in institutions whose cases are due for re-consideration under Section 11 of the Mental
Deficiency Act, 1913, or when the question of licence, holiday leave or discharge arises.
The Psychiatric Social Workers employed by the Council and at Goodmayes Hospital work
in very close co-operation in both pre-care and after-care cases.
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