Human Growth after Birth

in 1964. Using the yardstick of 1.5 geriatric hospital beds per 1,000 population and 20 welfare beds per 1,000 elderly, the province is only short of 78 (3i per cent) hospital and 807 (26 per cent) welfare beds. This overall deficiency in hospital beds will be made up during the next few months and over half the welfare beds needed are already under construction. Needless to say Dr. Adams is not satisfied yet, and for three reasons: (I) There is a marked inequality of distribution of both hospital and welfare beds so that one large teaching hospital complex is 109 beds short and one county has only 11.5 beds per thousand elderly. (2) There are areas of the province which are not provided with the services of a geriatric physician. Many of those already in post are working with scattered antiquated and under-staffed accommodation. As a result the development of a properly organised domicili-ary, outpatient, progressive inpatient and rehabilitation geriatric service is occurring very slowly. (3) There is still a tendency both amongst administrators and doctors to regard the care of the elderly as someone else's business. One hospital management committee with a gross shortage of geriatric beds has actually deferred plans to make good the numbers provided during the years under review in spite of advice to the contrary. Welfare services are still administered separately from the hospital services and within the hospital services the care of the elderly confused is regarded as separate from the elderly sane. Perhaps the introduction of the Area Health Boards will break down the administrative barriers. But it is only by constant teaching from people like Dr. Adams that the barriers in people's minds will be broken down. In this document the sector plan for geriatric services for Belfast is described in detail. It is basic to Dr. Adams' thinking that the care of the elderly should be carried through from beginning to end as close as possible to the patient's old haunts, relatives and friends. It is therefore natural that he should insist that accommodation for geriatric patients should be built within the area where they live and be administered by the hospital which provides the acute medical (and ultimately psychiatric services). Similarly it is Dr. Adams' contention that geriatritians are advisers and teachers of their subject. As such they should have the backing of a university department with research facilities and …