[Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council.

  • Surrey (England). County Council.
Date:
1962
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Surrey County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    67/96 (page 65)
    MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 1962 saw the completion of 2 years’ full operation of the Mental Health Act of 1959, and there is every indication that the reorientation towards community care as envisaged in the recommenda¬ tions of the Royal Commission is steadily becoming an established part of the social services, and despite the fact that the Council are keeping pace with their programme for the recruitment of social workers, the demands are such that it will be necessary to speed up the rate of recruitment. By the end of the year the progress in the capital building programme was most encouraging. Building work on the new Training Centres at Ham and Caterham and the new Industrial Wing at Guildford Centre had been started. The Council’s Hostel for subnormal children at Send, near Woking, was opened, and with the financial support of the Council, the W.V.S. established a Home for the elderly confused at Surbiton and the Cheshire Foundation a Home for former mentally ill persons at Wimbledon. Sites for a new Training Centre at Walton-on-Thames, for an Industrial Centre at Banstead and for a Hostel for adult subnormal females at West Molesey were acquired. The only hold-up in the 1962-3 programme was in respect of the Hostel for former mentally ill persons at Wallington. Planning difficulties were still the cause, but as the objections are purely on minor points of layout, progress should be possible in the near future. Despite the national publicity given to the urgent need for providing a comprehensive mental health community care service and the time taken by County Councillors and senior officers in the service in explaining the Council’s schemes, there is still much to be done before the unenlightened attitude of the general public and some local councils and organisations will be improved. This is all the more regrettable as once the schemes come into operation the neighbouring population quickly accept them and take an active part in making them a success. The development of the supportive care services was handicapped by the resignation of the Senior Psychiatric Social Worker and the inadequate office accommodation for the field staff also created serious problems. With the growing demand for the services of these officers, there is a need for them to be relieved of their clerical work, but it will not be possible to appoint clerical staff until adequate office accommodation is provided. The service is not divisionalised and the central staff at County Hall are responsible for the supervision of the case work of 17 male and 6 female mental welfare officers and social workers, 3 trainee mental welfare officers, and the mental health work undertaken by 218 health visitors as part of their normal health visiting duties. Central staff are also responsible for the admissions to and day-to-day administration of the 7 Training Centres and 1 Industrial Unit which provided 477 places at the end of 1962. Speech- and physio-therapists are also employed at the Centres. All forms of residential care come under the central office. Recuperative holidays and short term care for the mentally ill and subnormal were provided in many cases, and the number of cases maintained in hostels and homes provided by such bodies as The Mental After Care Association, The Guardianship Society, the W.V.S., the S.O.S. Society, the St. Bernadette Society and the Cheshire Foundation showed a considerable increase over the previous year. Co-operation with psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the subnormal remains excellent and the specialist staff of the hospitals continue to give valuable advice and help. No serious difficulties were experienced in arranging the admission of really urgent cases to both types of hospital, but the waiting lists for hospitals for the subnormal remains rather long and at the end of the year the total waiting list was 96. There are 19 psychiatric out-patient clinics in the County staffed by medical officers from psychi¬ atric hospitals and hospitals for the subnormal under arrangements made by the Regional Hospital Board, and it is pleasing to report the increasing use of the County’s mental welfare officers and social workers at these clinics. Mental Illness. During the year there was a marked increase in the number of cases referred for aftercare, and it is encouraging that the closer liaison between hospital, general practitioner and local authority has made this possible. The County’s field officers form part of the out-patient clinic teams and are encouraged to attend case conferences at the hospitals. The trainee mental welfare officers are attached to the hospitals and this has been most valuable in their training. Mentally ill patients from Surrey in need of hospital treatment are eligible for admission to the following hospitals, according to the patient’s home address : Banstead, Brookwood, Horton, Netherne and West Park. St. Helier General Hospital still has a number of beds for female psychiatric patients and these special beds are under the care of medical officers from Netherne Hospital. Subnormality and Severe Subnormality. Investigation and registration of all new cases of subnormality and their community care or admission to hospital or guardianship are the responsibility of the mental health services staff at central office.