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Residential facilities
Placement continues of patients unable to live at home, in a variety of hostels and centres
organised by other authorities and voluntary bodies, and these are inspected and carefully
matched to individual needs by the Social Workers concerned.
There is one area where Newham has been slow to make progress. This is in the provision
of its own hostel accommodation, which is a statutory one. However, during 1970, building
started on the Grange Road, E.13., hostel for the mentally ill which will house some 38 patients,
with a possibility that some may progress to a separate annexe built to contain bed-sitting
rooms for those capable of a more independent existence and some eventually to ordinary housing
in the area provided through the co-operation of the Housing Department.
Voluntary organisations
Contact is maintained with many of the voluntary organisations serving the borough.
Special mention must be made of excellent links with the Social Workers Luncheon Groups where
various Church organisations offer a regular meeting place for voluntary and statutory workers,
and many projects have been undertaken Jointly. Compilation of the Newham directory for Social
Workers which is intended to help link together all those who are working for the social wellbeing
of the families of Newham is one of these.
Training
The department discharges its responsibility for assisting the national trend towards
training and raising standards of all personal social service personnel by employing trainees
under supervision, some of whom later take up a secondment on full salary to a professional
training course. Supervised placements of students from a wide variety of courses are also
offered. In addition the staff are given opportunities to attend relevant courses outside the
borough. Within the service special attention is paid to ensuring that the staff receive the
help they need for their own professional development. These measures assist us in retaining
the services of our high calibre staff, but there is nevertheless, a fairly rapid turnover,
both for personal reasons and of people who can readily obtain more senior posts elsewhere.
Statistics are given in Table 0 on page 55.
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