Annual Conference 1965 weighs
^AMH
The Price of Mental Health
KelP
Pu^''c speech
mental health by the Minister of Health, the Rt. Hon. himself a past Vice-President of the N.A.M.H. a menta^ health" man, as Lady Adrian reminded the expectant conferencehall WaS a force ?f facts and hopes. Translate that word for word, and the' easuretour of his delivery comes through as it did to his audience.
and''2"
?bv'ous criticism," said the Minister, commenting on the state of the ea^h services, "is that so much more needs to be done, particularly to build Unity care. I certainly intend to do all I can to ensure that the pace of develop-
c?rcim rrient
on
R?binson, P.C., M.P.,
c?ntinues
^IpKESSIVE
to accelerate."
DEVELOPMENT
of development that in the last few years the P?'nted hacfh ?enR?u!nson 'mPressive"; and proved his contention by statistics of growth of the out
rate
local health authority services, though he criticised the local authorities who lag But the quality of any health service depended fundamentally on the phindity ?f service given by the people who actually dealt with patients. The Mi.v
J^ister TL
.
went on:
Wor^
I
condif10ns
by
tu e
| sised
's
helped
hindered by the conditions in which they work?the the conditions imposed by finance and the conditions system of the hospital or local authority." or
9f buildings,
administrative
physical imposed
of the training of mental health staffs was also emphaRobinson and he paid a generous tribute to the N.A.M.H. itself, spealc ? 'ts "immense contribution" in pioneering training for teachers of the subnormal. The need for initiative from the Ministry to show ways in the mental health services can be bettered, and for surveys to discover act ,lch facilities and circumstances, was also stressed, and reference made to $ncu edUc Practical ways of raising standards as the application of the minimum entrance standard of the General Nursing Council to psychiatric nurses entering training on or after January 1966, and the publication ?f ?f Building Notes which, by describing minimum standards of c?nsf s?"es and design, help hospitals and local authorities to fulfil their mental
ugreat importance
vvh^nta^
studatl?na^ tfnt
heal
building programmes. ^II)E Range Tk hp .Minister stressed that the ie ?
could:
range of mental health work was so wide that
?f anY section of the Health rangp'^fthink ?Soc'al serv'ces> where mental and
Service, indeed any section of the whole
physical well-being
togethe?r Th
t0 troubineet* es at
an
the
tr^
t0 prevent mental disorder
developing
are
at all
not
being
served
by looking
for
early stage" through-
to watch for signs: 'teachers, school welfare officers, heahjfeo.P)e We depend inupon child welfare clinics, marriage guidance counsellors and anV sooi^lt,?rS', docto.rs and t0C,al ^or^ers who are in contact with parents or children for whatever reason'; attention to personal problems of relationships at home or at work'
with
,H8l,Ve.'early Quits"
into
^'ntster's whole approach to his th "e closing words of his speech:
was
vV?uId
forcibly stated.
firmly place
within the
arena
work, however, seemed
to be kernelled
of mental health those human considerations 53
which should be paramount in everything done in any kind of hospital or in any c?! munity social service.... It includes everything comprised in what our current jarj describes as 'communications', but which is essentially a plea for better understand1 between one human being and another. It amounts, in short, to the need always to # the people for whom we provide services as whole human beings, whose mental3 physical activities are inextricably linked and dependent on each other." Brian Abel-Smith, M.A., Ph.D., Reader in Social Administration at 1 London School of Economics, then posed the fundamental question of a'
economist:
0
^ ^
t
a
n
ti
'
How much are we, as a community, prepared to spend to back up all our nobler s? a ments [about the mental health services] with hard cash?"
Citing statistics from The Cost of Mental Care* and enlarging upon Minister's survey of the local authorities' part, Dr. Abel-Smith commented tb*' "... in 1963 our expenditure on all services for the mentally ill was only f?l fifths of our expenditure on the police force... the local authorities were in toi1' with only about a tenth of the mentally ill persons estimated to be in the wholfi the
a
a v
community."
c