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34
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
The year continued to show an increase in the demand for community mental
health services and indicated that the intentions of the Mental Health Act of
1959 were really proving to be effective in the field of community psychiatry.
Modern medical treatment enables patients suffering with mental illness to be
treated in many instances without admission to hospital, and where hospital
admission is necessary the length of stay in the main is of short duration.
The effect of this will be seen in the increase of the number of persons
receiving some form of help from the Council's services.
There is no doubt that the number of persons requiring help will continue
to increase and services must be geared to cope with the demands which will
be made upon them.
Present facilities in the Borough are extremely good but there is no
doubt that much remains to be done and as will be seen in this report, the
Council's plans for future development have taken into account the most
pressing needs of the mentally disordered in the community.
Emergency Rota
The emergency call service for mental welfare officers after office hours
continues in conjunction with the London Borough of Islington. The responsibility
this places on the officers was recognised by the Council when personnel who
undertake emergency calls and organise social clubs were granted an honorarium.
Day Centres
The three day centres were again busily occupied during the year. There was
no shortage of contract work, as the location of the centres is within an area of
light industry which has been accustomed to out-work contracting for many years.
53 persons were admitted to the day centres, 33 of whom were admitted to Clifton
Lodge Rehabilitation Centre which provides a short period of sheltered employment.
The two other centres accept patients whose mental condition has caused
permanent disability and whose chances of employment are much less favourable.
It was possible for 24 patients to be placed in employment, and only 16
patients had to be re-admitted to psychiatric hospitals for short periods.
The total number of patients attending the day centres during the year
was 146.
Social Clubs
In addition to the established social clubs which are held in various
establishments within the Borough, a social club for men and women attending
the senior training centre was started. This is held weekly and is well
attended and much appreciated by the trainees.
The senior training centre is made available on Friday evenings to the
Hackney branch of the Elfrida Rathbone Association who hold a social club
there for teenage boys and girls who are educationally subnormal. This centre
is also used by the Hackney Society for Mentally Handicapped Children for
parent's meetings and for socials.
The Department's officers are concerned with all social clubs including
those organised by the voluntary societies.
Training Centres
The two purpose-built training centres in the Borough managed to cope
with the increasing number of referrals of severely subnormal children and
adults, but it is apparent that increased facilities are now urgently required,
especially for severely subnormal adults, whose numbers increase yearly due to
several factors, including advances in medical treatment. One of the outstanding
factors in creating an increased demand for occupation and training
for adults has been the introduction of the selective employment tax resulting
in employers being less sympathetic to the mentally handicapped.