News and Notes

The Board of Control

Pursuant to the provisions of Section n of the Mental Treatment Act, 1930, the Board, with the approval of the Minister of Health, have appointed Mr. G. W. Mackay, M.B., Ch.B., D.P.M., and Miss F. H. M. Calder, M.A., M.D., D.P.M., to be Commissioners, on the retirement of Mr. S. E. Gill, M.D., D.P.H., and Surgeon Rear Admiral E. T. Meagher, R.N. (ret.).

British Social Hygiene Council

The annual Summer School organised by the British Social Hygiene Council will be held this year at Westminster College, Cambridge, from Tues- day, July 30th to August 6th. The main theme of the discussions and lectures will be ” Emotional Training and Sex Education.” It is hoped that this School will be of real help to all those who are in any way concerned with young people, especially those who have to deal with young people in Clubs and in Institutions.

Particulars of the School and an Application Form are enclosed with this issue. They may also be obtained from The Secretary, British Social Hygiene Council, Carteret House, Carteret Street, London, S.W.i. National Special Schools Union Biennial Conference The Sixteenth Biennial Conference of the National Special Schools Union will be held in Edinburgh on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 20th, 21 st and 22nd, 1935.

The Conference will open with a Civic Reception and this will be followed on the Friday by discussions on ” Organisation in Scotland,” and ” Special Schools v. Special Classes.” Amongst further subjects of discussion are ” The Special Problems of the Borderline Case,” ” The Relationship of Mental Defect to Juvenile Delinquency,” and sessions on Speech Defect and Physical Training.

Full particulars of the Conference may be obtained from the Hon. Secre- tary, Special Schools Union Conference, City Education Department, Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, 1.

New Education Fellowship

The first regional British Isles Conference of the New Education Fellow- ship will be held at St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, from Tuesday evening, August 13th, to Thursday evening, August 22nd, 1935.

The theme of the Conference is to be ” Education and Leisure; how to create a democratic culture.” It has been planned to consider not only the question of education for leisure at school but also to discuss the provision of facilities and training to enable adolescents and adults to make a creative and cultural use of their leisure after school life.

Dr A. D. Lindsay, Master of Balliol College, Oxford, will preside over the Conference and the speakers include Mr. Salter Davies of Kent, Mrs. Clara Rackham of Cambridge, and Dr William Boyd of the Education Department, Glasgow University.

Full particulars may be obtained from the New Education Fellowship, 29, Tavistock Square, W.C.i.

Mental Health Work in South Africa

The Report of the Commissioner for Mental Hygiene, Union of South Africa, for 1933 (published 1935) calls attention to the need for providing special psychopathic wards as integral parts and under the administration of the larger general hospitals. To a great extent South Africa is meeting the need for the treatment of mild and early cases of mental disorders in this way.

Capetown, Johannesburg and Pretoria General Hospitals have instituted psychiatric clinics for out-patients and plans for the new Capetown Hospital include a ward for the treatment of suitable in-patients. The Commissioner expresses the hope that the lead given by Capetown in making this special provision for in-patients will be followed by other hospitals in the large centres. ” . . A definite duty rests on the modern general hospital to make adequate provision for the treatment of mild and curable cases of mental ill- ness and I am strongly of opinion that our general hospitals should no longer refuse to accept this responsibility.”

Referring to Institutions for the Feeble-minded, the Commisioner men- tions the recent modification of restrictions which allow the admission of de- fective children under the age of 16 years who require care and teaching in an institution for the feeble-minded. He is not satisfied that it is the function of institutions to deal with children with slight mental defect characterised prin- cipally by failure to make normal progress in ordinary schools. These present a problem which is primarily educational and, he says, the onus of providing facilities for this class of child is one which may reasonably be placed on the Education Departments.

New Colony for Mental Defectives

The North Riding County Council have recently opened a new Colony ?The Claypenny Colony, at Easingwold, North Riding, Yorks.

This is the first attempt in the North Riding to provide a colony for the treatment and care of their own cases who have been previously boarded out at the institutions of other Authorities.

Accommodation has been provided in the first instance for 90 patients but an additional 100 acres of land and a farm adjoining the premises have been acquired for extension and it is proposed to erect three further pavilions.

Public Health Congress Report

A verbatim report of the Public Health Congress held at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, from November 19th to 24th is now on sale and may be obtained from the Congress Organising Council, 13, Victoria Street, S.W.i. The Report includes full accounts of the sessions on Boarding-Out Patients from Mental Hospitals, After-Care of Mental Patients, and Voluntary Sterilisation.

Proposed British Federation of Social Workers

At the Annual Meeting of the Association of Mental Health Workers a short account was given of a proposed British Federation of Social Workers. The Federation would be composed of organisations of social workers (as distinct from organisations engaged in social work) and its objects would be: (a) To promote consultation and co-operation among constituent organisations. (b) To provide opportunities for the interchange of knowledge and ex- perience between members of organisations. (c) To discuss, and when considered desirable, to take common action in matters affecting social legisation. (d) To assist organisation in securing for social workers such conditions of employment as will attract and retain able and well qualified men and women, thus enabling workers to render their best service to the community. (e) To promote or facilitate research either by organisations or individuals. Many social workers have felt the need for some means of voicing their views when social legisation is proposed and an organisation representing the workers in various branches of social work, would carry more weight and conviction than individual associations could hope to do. The question of training is intimately bound up with that of salaries and conditions of work and the Federation should be able to help constituent organisations in many ways.

It is proposed that membership of the Federation should comprise organisations of workers, and for the first two years, individual associates who would be workers engaged in some branch of social work in which no organ- isation of workers has yet been formed. The standard and training of workers belonging to the constituent organisations would be the concern of each individual organisation.

Management would be by a Council representative of the Constituent organisations with an Executive Committee and the usual officers. A provisional Committee has been formed (on which the A.M.H.W. is represented) to consider in more detail the constitution, finance and a possible programme of work for the Federation should it materialise. This Committee will report to a Conference of representatives of organisations in six months time.

Joint Committee on Voluntary Sterilisation

The Joint Committee, formed for the purpose of forwarding legislation on the lines of the recommendations of the Departmental Committee, con- tinues to collect evidence of public support for its work. It now has the honour and great advantage of possessing Lord Horder and Sir Francis Acland as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively.

A Bill embodying the proposals of the Departmental Committee (of whom Mr. Brock, it will be remembered, was the Chairman) has now been drawn up. It has been approved by the County Councils Association, the Association of Municipal Corporations and the Mental Plospitals Association, and has been presented to the Minister of Health. Copies will be obtainable from the Joint Committee at the end of May, when representatives of the above associa- tions and of the Joint Committee will have had an opportunity of discussing it with the Minister.

Meanwhile, in response to many requests, a Voluntary Sterilisation League has been formed, to assist the Joint Committee with its educational work, to promote co-operation between all those who support the same object and to provide members with regular information as to the progress of the work and the facilities available for educational propaganda. Lord Horder and Sir Francis Acland have kindly consented to act as President and Vice- President, the headquarters are at 69, Eccleston Square, London, S.W.i, and the nominal subscription is sixpence a year. Members may, however, send more if they wish, and the response so far has been exceedingly generous. In return they will receive a quarterly bulletin, and any information or help they may require with local educational work. Those who are interested should write to the Secretary for membership cards and further particulars.

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