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37
The number awaiting residence in a local authority hostel for severely
mentally handicapped is 44 men and 26 women making a total of 70. These numbers
are mainly requests from the hospitals for the mentally handicapped.
A survey at Long Grove Hospital showed that 90 patients out of 236
interviewed were considered suitable for rehabilitation through a hostel or
community home.
Hospital admissions
With regard to admissions to hospital it is somewhat disturbing to see that
the informal admissions have gone down from 153 in 1969 to 136 and that the
compulsory admissions have gone up from 187 to 246. This high number of compulsory
admissions is quite against the philosophy and the wishes of the
Department of Health and Social Security but there are several reasons for this.
Firstly, still nearly 90% of all patients suffering from mental illness
have to be admitted to Long Grove Hospital situated far away on the other side
of London. This means that patients who may have been admitted there, come
back home again and then have to be re-admitted, are not very happy about going
so far away and refuse to be re-admitted voluntarily and for that reason perhaps
compulsory admissions are involved.
Secondly, it is sometimes a temptation for new and largely inexperienced
staff to fill in a form and have it signed ready for compulsory admission
although in fact it may not be used. The social worker sometimes finds that
whilst on her way to Long Grove Hospital with a patient who has previously
expressed the desire for voluntary admission suddenly decides to refuse to go
into hospital. In this case the compulsory admission forms already filled in
are used in order to secure that the patient who really needs admission will
be admitted to the hospital. Whilst accepting that this is highly undesirable
it arises because of the fact that there are not enough local beds and because
the social worker in his zeal to look after the welfare of the patient feels he
has to use a compulsory process.
Mental Health Liaison Committee
Meetings continued regularly during the year. Representatives from the
Police, Ambulance Service and other bodies were invited to attend certain meetings
during which the relationships with the mental health service were discussed and
at times problems were solved. The number of people attending decreased somewhat
and became static consisting of the participants who are directly involved
in mental health activities.
Special Advisory Clinic
The clinics have been conducted regularly under the direction of two
specialists from the I.L.E.A. One of the principal medical officers dealing
with maternal and child health has been trained and is gradually taking over
the clinic. During the year 64 children aged 1 to 5 were examined and assessed
at the clinic. The age distribution was as follows:
Year of Birth Number
1965 15
1966 30
1967 13
1968 5
1969 1
Voluntary organisations
Easton House has had a somewhat disappointing year because of a crisis
amongst the staff.