Ministry of Health Circular, 1311
The January issue of Mental Welfare contained a short commentary on the Report of the Committee on Local Expenditure (the Ray Report). Whilst agreeing in the main with the recommendations made by the Committee for general economy in the mental deficiency as well as in other services, we ventured to express disagreement with one or two statements put forward on the value and cost of the mental deficiency service. It is encouraging to find that in Circular 1311 which has been issued by the Ministry of Health to all Local Authorities, similar opinions are expressed by the Ministry in the following words : ? ” In these paragraphs ” (referring to pars. 167-171 of the Ray Report) ” attention is very properly drawn to the rapid increase in the cost of the mental deficiency service. On this question it must be observed that neither the Board of Control nor the Minister could subscribe to the view expressed that there is no evidence that more that a negligible number of the mentally deficient are improved in condition by treatment. The effect of the experi- ence obtained is, in fact, that all but a negligible number show improvement MENTAL WELFARE 45 after treatment, both as regards habits, behaviour and capacity for work. Fur- ther, in considering merely the figures of expenditure in par. 168 without any allowance for other aspects of the question, it should be borne in mind that provision for mental defectives not treated in institutions appropriate to them has been, and is, a large element in the cost of public assistance. These para- graphs cannot, accordingly, be accepted without material qualification. Never- theless, the Board of Control and the Minister are equally desirous of providing for this lately developed and beneficient service only so much money as is requisite for its needs.” With reference to institutional accommodation the Minister points out that the figures given by the Wood Committee are in fact borne out by the actual ascertainment in a number of areas and advises Local Authorities to plan the accommodation ultimately needed on the basis of those figures, but only to build in stages to meet immediate needs. The Board of Control are to examine carefully the possibility of economising space in new buildings. The Board of Control agree that full use should be made of guardianship and commend it to local authorities. They point out, however, that there are certain practical difficulties which restrict the use of guardianship, which can- not be removed without amending legislation. The Burden Mental Research Trust (Contributed) The recent announcement of Mrs. R. G. Burden’s magnificent offer of ^10,000 to be devoted to research into mental disorder has caused considerable gratification in medical circles. Professor R. J. A. Berry, Director of Medical Services, Stoke Park Colony, to whom the offer was made, immediately sought the advice of the British Medical Association and the Chairman of the Board of Control as to the best way of using this gift. It was decided to form a Committee of Administration, the personnel of which and the bodies represented are as follows : ?Mrs. R. G. Burden (Donor); Professor R. J. A. Berry (Chairman); Miss Ruth Darwin (Board of Control); Professor E. D. Adrian (Medical Research Council); Sir Henry Brackenbury (British Medical Association); Miss E. M. Elderton (Galton Eugenics Labora- tory); Dr E. O. Lewis (Royal Medico-Psychological Association); Miss Evelyn Fox (Central Association for Mental Welfare); Dr R. A. Fisher (Rothamsted Experimental Station); Dr W. Rees Thomas (late Medical Superintendent of Rampton State Institute); Dr G. C. Anderson (Medical Secretary, British Medical Association), Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. It will be remem- bered that Professor E. D. Adrian shared last year with Sir Charles Sherring- ton the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. The first meeting of the Committee of Administration was held on February 24th, 1933, at which Mrs. Burden presented a cheque for half the total amount of the gift (?5,000). Mr.L.G. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Control, proposing the vote of thanks to Mrs. Burden, said that one in his position could not fail to be obsessed by the individual, social and economic burdens imposed 46 MENTAL WELFARE on the community by mental defect. To find some means of checking its growth was a social necessity; hut more exact knowledge was required. Mrs. Burden’s act was one of vision and courage, for no tangible and definite return from a research into mental problems could be promised within a measurable time. Sir Henry Brackenbury, who seconded the vote of thanks, endorsed the remarks of Mr. Brock, and Professor Adrian, in supporting Mr. Brock’s pro- posal of thanks, intimated that the Medical Research Council warmly welcomed the extraordinary public spirit shown by Mrs. Burden. As to the scope of the research to be undertaken it was tentatively decided that an accurate investigation of the family histories of three grades of the population in a particular given area might be attempted, to determine the presence therein of mental disorders and/or their hereditary transmission, and that these three grades might include: (i) families of known certified mental defectives and/or insane patients; (2) families of reputedly normal school children; (3) families of criminals and juvenile offenders. The post of Principal Investigator has been advertised and it is hoped to make an appointment shortly. Success in a Folk Dance Competition The girls of The Hermitage Training Home, Fairwarp, Sussex, were most successful in the Folk Dance competitions held in connection with the Hove Musical Festival last February. Two teams of eight competed in four sections. The novice team gained an Honours Certificate and the other advanced team a Certificate of Distinction, 2 Honours Certificates and 2 Silver Challenge Cups. One Cup was for Morris Dance and one for ” an outstanding performance of a Folk Dance.” All the competitors were adults. Miss Walton has had a wooden platform built on the lawn and when- ever possible the girls practise in the open air. All of them dance for an hour during the morning or in colder weather for shorter periods during the day The advanced team often use their leisure hours in the evening for practice. We heartily congratulate Miss Walton and her folk-dancers and hope that their success will encourage others to enter for public competitive events of this kind. Vocational Guidance A very interesting report is issued annually by the Kent Education Com- mittee on the work of vocational guidance and juvenile welfare in the County. On the death of the previous officer, Mr. Kilgour from the National Institute of Industrial Psychology was appointed last year as vocational Guidance Officer. His work includes arrangements for giving to boys and girls under 18 years of age information and advice with respect to choice of employment and for the administration of Unemployment Insurance for young persons under the age of 18. Arrangements are also made for the after-care of boys MENTAL WELFARE 47 and girls when they leave school. The report mentions the increasing diffi- culty of placing in employment boys and girls who suffer from physical defects. It would be interesting to know if the establishment of several classes for dull and backward children in this area has had any effect on the employment figures amongst this class of child. The value of Vocational Guidance is becoming more generally recognised and the National Institute of Industrial Psychology were recently called upon to examine and give vocational advice to a group of boys at Harrow School. Extension of Royal Eastern Counties Institution Just before Christmas the Royal Eastern Counties Institution at Colchester began the construction of the first section of their Extension. It is being built about 700 yards from the existing Central Institution and when complete it is planned to provide another 1,100 beds, but the first section will give 444 beds. It consists of eight villas for male adult patients, workshops for these same patients, a boiler house, a laundry large enough for the whole completed Insti- tution, namely, 2,500 patients, and a kitchen and stores large enough for the 1,100 patients who will eventually live in this part of the Institution. The plans have been prepared by Mr. Stuart, the County Architect for Essex, and the cost of the extension is being paid by the Essex, Suffolk and Cambridge- shire County Councils jointly, though Essex, as the most thickly populated County, is naturally providing the largest share. We believe this to be the first occasion, at ?ny rate on any large scale, in which Local Authorities under the Mental Deficiency Act have used their powers under that Act to provide for the extension of an existing charitable and voluntary Institution. There are naturally safeguards for the Local Authorities who will be entitled to nominate members of the Governing Body of the Institution. The number of these nominated members depends directly on the respective outlay of each Council and the proportion that this bears to the present accommodation of the exist- ing Institution. The buildings are expected to be completed in eighteen months and will cost, apart from furniture, nearly ^150,000. The Institution has also just opened its ninth branch for 59 women at Great West Hatch, Chigwell, a beautiful country house in very nice surround- ings and has finished building a new single storey pavilion for 44 male adult cripples at die Witham branch. Welfare House, Victoria Park Occupation Centre, Manchester On February 6th, 1933, the Chairman of the Lancashire Mental Hospitals Board and Chairman of the South East Lanes. Association for Mental Welfare (Alderman J. C. Grime, M.B.E., J.P.), opened Welfare House; this ceremony marking an epoch in the life of the Association. Welfare House is the Centralised Occupation Centre for the Manchester district. The first Centre of the Association was opened at the University Settlement, Every Street, Ancoats, in 1922, with a nucleus of four children and was maintained by voluntary efforts only. The present premises will 48 MENTAL WELFARE accommodate 180 children. There are facilities for the medical examination of the defectives and there is ample accommodation for the children to be appropriately graded. The premises were previously used as a School and are therefore admirably suited for the purpose. Many of the children are having a hot mid-day meal and it is hoped ultimately that all will participate. There is already a distinct improvement in the physique of the children. Home for Subnormal Blind Children The National Institute for the Blind have introduced a system of classifica- tion into their Sunshine Homes and in future the Home at Leamington, War- wickshire, will be used for blind children, not mentally defective, but of a lower mental grade than the children who have been admitted in the past. Admission to the Leamington Home will be under the control of the Institute’s medical consultant, Dr Eric Pritchard. The Institute have found that in the past two years the number of blind children under the age of 5 has fallen and it is their wish to give every chance to children who on examination are found to be of doubtful mentality in the hope that some of them may, with proper care and treatment, re-adjust themselves. School for ” Nervous Children ” in Leicester An important educational step has been taken in Leicester by the estab- lishment during the last year of a new type of school for nervous children. These children are often eccentric in behaviour, subject to all kinds of fears and through a lack of concentration are consequently more backward in schol- astic achievements than would be accounted for by their intelligence quotient. Before a child is sent to this school a detailed enquiry is made by the teacher who reports the case, the Psychologist who examines the child, the After-Care Officer who visits the home and the School Medical Officer who examines the child in the presence of the parents and gives advice with regard to the training required. At the present time there are 100 children in the new school which has proved a valuable addition to the existing schools and has enabled many child- ren who are in need of it to receive individual attention. British Social Hygiene Council Summer School The Eighth Summer Vacation School will be held at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, from Thursday, July 27th, to Thursday, August 3rd, 1933. As a measure of economy the Course will be combined with the special Vacation School for Colonial Administrators and Missionaries and concurrent meetings will be held to suit groups of members where the subjects are not of interest to the whole school. Full particulars are enclosed or can be obtained from The Secretary, British Social Hygiene Council, Carteret House, Carteret Street, London, S.W.i.
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