[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, East Sussex County Council.

  • East Sussex (England). County Council
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, East Sussex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    36/48 (page 34)
    The services of all Mental Health Officers continue to be available to institutions for mental defectives under the control of the Hospital Boards for the supervision of patients on Ucence, although such institutions may make arrangements for their own officers to visit and report. So far as local establishments are concerned, there are two who supervise their own licence cases but in cases where defectives arrive in the county from a distance, super- vision is undertaken by our local officers. From time to time guardianship cases belonging to other authorities also enter the county and arrangements are made for both medical and lay visitation on behalf of the responsible bodies. During the year routine visits were paid to and reports made on 98 such cases. The supervision of patients discharged on trial from mental hospitals is usually under- taken by officers of the Hospital Boards. Duties delegated to Voluntary Organisations. The two voluntary Associations which are mainly concerned with care and after-care work in the County are the Mental After-Care Association and the East Sussex Association for Mental Welfare, The Mental After-Care Association specialize in receiving and arranging board residence as a “convalescence measure” for patients who need a period of re-adjustment to community life after receiving treatment in mental hospitals. Patients under certificate “on trial” from mental hospitals are still the financial and administrative responsibility of the sending hospitals but voluntary patients who go to the Association homes come within the Local Health Authority’s respon- sibilities under Section 28 of the National Health Service Act. These short periods of residential care are usually of four weeks’ duration. The East Sussex Association for Mental Welfare, on behalf of the Local Health Authority have continued throughout the year to carry out after-care work in respect of person* discharged from the mental hospitals who are recommended by the hospital for such help Certain mental defectives who have succeeded in fitting into the community to such ar extent that they do not require official supervision have also received “friendly” guidance from the Association, and a County Council grant to cover the cost of these services has beer made. It has been agreed, however, that this shall be the last complete year in which delegatior is made, and thereafter the County Council will undertake direct responsibility for the service Modifications to the Local Health Authority’s approved proposals have been submitted t( the Minister. Community Care of Mental Defectives. At the end of the year 150 mental defectives wen under guardianship, about one-third being under the immediate care of the Guardianshi] Society of Hove, and 436 were under statutory supervision, mainly provided by Hom^ Visitors who paid 2,296 visits during the year. Twenty-three other defectives were seen fo the purposes of voluntary supervision. Occupation Centres. Although there are no occupation centres in the administrativ County, certain mental defectives who are boarded out in the neighbourhood attend th centres run by the Guardianship Society in Hove, whilst others attend the Centres run by th County Borough Councils at Eastbourne and Hastings. Some, indeed, are boarded out nea one or other solely to enable them to attend daily. Arrangements have also been made fo one child to attend the centre run by the Kent County Council at Tunbridge Wells and tw children at the West Sussex Centre at Worthing. The County Council is financially respor sible for all fees in connection with East Sussex cases attending these Centres, and travellin expenses are refunded to those parents who wish their children to attend but do not desir boarding out. Mention was made in the last report of the representations made by a Sussex resident'' acting on behalf of a local branch of the National Association for Mentally Handicappe Children, that further arrangements for home training and occupational diversion shordd b made. At the end of the year under review the Authority have under consideration th expansion of their scheme to include home teaching commencing with a “pilot” scheme in suitable area.