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Family needs and the social services
BOOK REVIEWS
373
well to the fore throughout the book; and he will find--as will the hospital M.O.-that the cases described will repay careful study. The authors are to be congratulated on the skitful handling of a large amount of material and its presentation in an interesting style in a book which is well printed and well produced. FAMILY NEEDS AND THE SOCIAL SERVICES. (Pp. 233, including 107 tables, appendices and index. Price £1 10s.) A P.E.P. Report. London : George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1961. This report starts with a quotation from an earlier P.E.P. publication, dated 1937, on "The British Social Services". When to this fact is added the knowledge that the organisation started work in 1931, we are justified in saying that P.E.P. is on the way to becoming a national institution. The quotation mentioned is worth repeating : "Needs which the social services fill, or should fill, are constantly changing, and therefore demanding continuous and fundamental study with a view to carrying out the necessary adjustments in good time". It is appropriate, therefore, that this survey, which was made in 1957~ should try to ascertain the users' opinions of the services after 10 years' experience of them. Fhe main survey was carried out on 754 London families with children under 16. A second, smaller, survey took place in Northampton. Questions were asked and answered in great numbers regarding the numerous sections of the social services. It was found that the most widely used section was the health service, which had been used by 99 ~ of those questioned. Next came national insurance (84 ~ ) and then education (74~o). National assistance was used by only 12~. The replies received in answer to questions are interesting, and whether or not we think that the consumer is always right, merit careful consideration. Many of them are a good corrective to any complacency that may exist in either the hospital or local authority services. Those working in other services will also be given much to ponder--and to stir them to further efforts. The survey is valuable both as an appraisal of the services at present existing and as a guide to lines of further advance. THE NUFFIELD PROVINCIAL HOSPITALS TRUST F U N D F 1 F T H R E P O R T. (Pp. 124.) London and Tonbridge: Whitefriars Press Ltd., 1961. This report was published on the 21st anniversary of the setting up of the Trust Deed by Viscount Nuffield, C.H., on 25th June, 1940, following on the heels of Dunkirk. It is universally agreed that the Trust performs a valuable function in research into the workings of the National Health Service and in making possible numerous studies and experiments. During the three years ending 31st March, 1961, over £1,000,000 have been expended on schemes covering many aspects of the health services, including the community care of those suffering from mental ill-health. The report reminds the reader that the inadequacy of after-care and rehabilitation described so admirably by Ferguson and MacPhaiI in "Hospital and Community" in 1954, still persists. The Trust has been instrumental in furthering the very necessary co-operation between hospitals, local authorities and the Ministry of Labour in model schemes at Salisbury and Winchester in regard to resettlement. It has, also, a fine record in the publication of reports on the function and design of hospitals, on the organisation of central sterilisation schemes and on the casualty services. In the short space availaNe, it is not possible to do justice to the many projects
373
well to the fore throughout the book; and he will find--as will the hospital M.O.-that the cases described will repay careful study. The authors are to be congratulated on the skitful handling of a large amount of material and its presentation in an interesting style in a book which is well printed and well produced. FAMILY NEEDS AND THE SOCIAL SERVICES. (Pp. 233, including 107 tables, appendices and index. Price £1 10s.) A P.E.P. Report. London : George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1961. This report starts with a quotation from an earlier P.E.P. publication, dated 1937, on "The British Social Services". When to this fact is added the knowledge that the organisation started work in 1931, we are justified in saying that P.E.P. is on the way to becoming a national institution. The quotation mentioned is worth repeating : "Needs which the social services fill, or should fill, are constantly changing, and therefore demanding continuous and fundamental study with a view to carrying out the necessary adjustments in good time". It is appropriate, therefore, that this survey, which was made in 1957~ should try to ascertain the users' opinions of the services after 10 years' experience of them. Fhe main survey was carried out on 754 London families with children under 16. A second, smaller, survey took place in Northampton. Questions were asked and answered in great numbers regarding the numerous sections of the social services. It was found that the most widely used section was the health service, which had been used by 99 ~ of those questioned. Next came national insurance (84 ~ ) and then education (74~o). National assistance was used by only 12~. The replies received in answer to questions are interesting, and whether or not we think that the consumer is always right, merit careful consideration. Many of them are a good corrective to any complacency that may exist in either the hospital or local authority services. Those working in other services will also be given much to ponder--and to stir them to further efforts. The survey is valuable both as an appraisal of the services at present existing and as a guide to lines of further advance. THE NUFFIELD PROVINCIAL HOSPITALS TRUST F U N D F 1 F T H R E P O R T. (Pp. 124.) London and Tonbridge: Whitefriars Press Ltd., 1961. This report was published on the 21st anniversary of the setting up of the Trust Deed by Viscount Nuffield, C.H., on 25th June, 1940, following on the heels of Dunkirk. It is universally agreed that the Trust performs a valuable function in research into the workings of the National Health Service and in making possible numerous studies and experiments. During the three years ending 31st March, 1961, over £1,000,000 have been expended on schemes covering many aspects of the health services, including the community care of those suffering from mental ill-health. The report reminds the reader that the inadequacy of after-care and rehabilitation described so admirably by Ferguson and MacPhaiI in "Hospital and Community" in 1954, still persists. The Trust has been instrumental in furthering the very necessary co-operation between hospitals, local authorities and the Ministry of Labour in model schemes at Salisbury and Winchester in regard to resettlement. It has, also, a fine record in the publication of reports on the function and design of hospitals, on the organisation of central sterilisation schemes and on the casualty services. In the short space availaNe, it is not possible to do justice to the many projects