HOMES FOR AGED

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28553, 5 April 1958, Page 4

HOMES FOR AGED

Register Of Needy 7 Suggested The Christchurch Agecl People’s Welfare Council will compile a register of all elderly persons requiring accommodation or help. This was decided at the quarterly meeting of the council. There were a number of organisations running homes for the aged and some had long lists waiting for accommodation and others had vacancies. It was time, that a central index was compiled apd a system organised where all vacancies were notified to the council, said the Rev. T. G. Campbell, representative of the Presbyterian Social Service Association. Mrs R. M. Mabfarlane said that often in the past a man and wifg had to be separated when they were admitted to homes. That was why the Theresa Green Home at- Waltham was being kept mainly for couples. It was heartbreaking to separate a husband and wife who had lived together for many years in the evening of their lives. y ;; The chairman of the executive (Dr. H. R. Donald) agreed with Mr Campbell as* to the need for a central register. The scheme had not been put into practice before because of the lark of secretarial staff but this had now been overcome, he said. The council had to depend on the constituent organisations to supply the information necessary to keep the register up to date. When one of the organisations came across an urgent case which it could not admit to its homes it was referred to similar organisations. said Mr G. M. Morgan of the Social Service Council of the Diocese. There ' were many on the waiting lists who were not deserving cases and it was the policy of the council to keep the aged in their own homes as long as possible. He had' 50 on his own waiting list. Air the urgent cases had been dealt with and how accommodation was being nrovided according to the need. Mr Campbell said that he had not meant to infer that the organisations did not pass -on an urgent case when they could not provide accommodation. As a representative of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. Mrs R. M. Macfarlane said that she wps pleased to see that a number of homes were building hospitals attached to their institutions. There .were some elderly persons in hospital, who although they required a certain amount of treatment, did not require permanent hospital treatment.