Annual report of the Board of Control to the Lord Chancellor : 1949.

Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Annual report of the Board of Control to the Lord Chancellor : 1949. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Sections 4 and 74 came into operation on the 1st August, 1949, and were brought to the notice of the hospitals and institutions affected by them, while the Home Office was supplied with particulars of hospitals and clinics suitable for the purposes of section 4. Section 4 empowers a court when satisfied on medical evidence that the mental condition of an offender is such as requires and as may be susceptible to treatment but is not such as to justify his being certified under the Lunacy Act, 1890, or the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, to include in a probation order a requirement that he shall submit to treatment for a period not exceeding twelve months as a voluntary patient under the Mental Treatment Act, 1930, or as a resident patient in an institution or place approved by the Minister of Health, or as a non-resident patient at such institution or place as may be specified in the order, or under the care of such duly qualified medical practitioner as may be specified in the order. Section 74 enables a requirement as to mental treatment to be inserted, in accordance with section 4, in a supervision order made under the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, in respect of children and young persons who are brought before a juvenile court as beyond control, in need of care or protection, or for failing to go to school. The information available indicates that the Courts are making good use of section 4 for both residential and non-residential mental treatment. Section 24 also appears to be used freely in appropriate cases. Changes in the Board Miss Ruth Darwin, C.B.E., a Senior Commissioner of the Board of Control, retired on the 30th September, 1949. She was originally appointed as an unpaid Commissioner of the Board in 1921; and when, following the passing of the Mental Treatment Act, 1930, the post of unpaid Commissioner was abolished, she became a part-time Commissioner until 1932, when she succeeded the late Dame Ellen Pinsent as a Senior Commissioner and Member of the Board. Miss Darwin, by her unrivalled knowledge of all aspects of mental deficiency work, and her untiring devotion to its interests, has made an invaluable contribution to the progressive development of the Mental Deficiency Service. Her knowledge and experience were also brought to bear on the general development of community care, which assumed special importance on the integration of the Mental Health Service in the National Health Service. The Board will greatly miss a colleague to whom they owe so much; and it is fortunate that, by her acceptance of appointment to a Regional Hospital Board, Miss Darwin's services will still be available to the Mental Health Service. To fill the vacancy on the Board of Control, His Majesty, on the recommendation of the Minister of Health, appointed Miss Isabel G. H. Wilson, M.D., F.R.C.P., D.P.M., who had been a visiting Commissioner since 1931. By Order of the Board, (Signed) P. Barter, Chairman. 32, Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London, S.W.7. (Signed) H. C. Bleakley, Secretary.