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liary consultations which has resulted in a deeper understanding of the problems
of mental disorder in the community and has given the general practitioner,
the Department and most of all the patient, a very greatly improved service.
It is unfortunate that the remoteness of Long Grove Hospital involves
difficulties in time and distance especially with regard to patients being
visited by their relatives and it is hoped that the proposed increase in
facilities in the Hackney Hospital unit will go some way to resolving these.
As in previous years the Department owes a great deal to the many
statutory and voluntary organisations who co-operate most willingly in the
community mental health services. As previously mentioned, without the
provision of hostel accommodation by the voluntary organisations, the situation
would be very grave. I am pleased to place on record my very grateful
thanks for the help and advice we have received from these organisations too
numerous to mention individually.
Easton House Hostel which caters for twelve boys who have left residential
schools for the maladjusted and which is under the control of a
voluntary organisation was again beset by staffing problems mainly due to
the long illness and sad death of the warden who had done a great deal of
excellent work with many of the difficult problems that a hostel of this
nature presents. The Council continued to meet the day to day running costs
of the hostel subject to reimbursement by Councils making use of the premises,
an administrative procedure which is not easy.
Mental Health Fortnight
During June the Council organised a mental health fortnight the first
week of which coincided with the National Mental Health Week.
Meetings were arranged in various parts of the Borough both for professional
and lay audiences, and an exhibition was staged in Shoreditch Health Centre.
The results were bitterly disappointing, in spite of much hard work
and effort by all the staff, and reflected a marked lack of interest in the
subject of mental health, which is still regarded in many quarters as "taboo".
It is no consolation that most other areas throughout the country suffered
the same experience.
Future Plans
The provision of further day centre accommodation and adult training
centre facilities is now proceeding. The Territorial Army Drill Hall, Albion
Road, N.16, acquired by the Council, will be adapted as a Day Centre for 60
patients and a purpose-built adult training centre for 100 patients will be
constructed at the rear of these premises.
Sites have been obtained for two hostels of 20 places each for severely
subnormal children. One hostel will cater for short term care and the other
for children needing long stay accommodation.
A site in the grounds of the Junior Training Centre is available for the
erection of a purpose-built special care unit and this project is included in
the building programme for 1969/70. A site will also be made available in a
housing development area for a hostel for the mentally ill.
These plans when brought to fruition will provide a comprehensive service
for all types of mentally disordered persons within their own community which
is the prime objective of the Mental Health Act 1959.
With the announcement by the Prime Minister that the responsibility for
the education of mentally handicapped children will pass from local health
authorities to local education authorities the future of the junior training
centres and special care units is not yet clear but it is to be hoped that
this proposal will not deter the Council from going ahead with their plans for
an increase in training centre and special care facilities.