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: WREXHAM COUNTY PETTYi j…

I RUABON. I

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TRIBUNALS. 1

! WREXHAM.

- iDENBIGHSHIRE WAR iPENSIONS.,

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DENBIGHSHIRE WAR PENSIONS. REVIEW OF THE SITUATION. THE CARE OF THE DISABLED. a _1. The Denbighshire Local War Pensions \jQ!IJl1ll.LII"'O met at Chester on Thursday, Mr. D. S. Davies, Denbigh, presiding, It ?Ls reported that Sir Arthur GriaMh-Bo.E<-&wen, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, proposed to meet representatives of the various local'pensions committees in North Wales with a riew of discussing the question of Joint action. In North Wales in regard to the. treatment, and train- ing of disabled men. It wa.s decided to appoint the Chairman Lady Trevor, Messrs. A. Seymour Jones, EWfward Hughes and Rohert Jones to represent* Denbighshire at the conference. A scheme for the grouping Of the iNorfch Wales counties for the purpose of dealing with the prob- lem of treatment and training -was torn-ally a-p- proved. The Secretary (Mr. G. G. Lerry) reported that dur- ing the past few weeks changes foreshowed when the Ministry of Pensions was ercated had begun to take effect. Th. issue of the- new Royal warrant witb its provisionhs for disabled men and for the widows and dependents of sailors and soldiers, its alternative pensions, and its regulations for treatment and training had caused the Statutory Committee toQ take trtæPs to transfer many of their functions to the Ministry of Pensions. The work of reassessing pen- sions awarded under the old conditions would be ■» concluded shortly And it, was sitisfactory to find that in Denbighshire several cases of hardship brought to light through the activities of the local committee were being disposed of on a liberal scale. A number of men discharged from the Army without pensions had applied for assistance at various times during the past eight months, and as a result of applications for the review of their cases state pen- MOllS bad been secured. In one case a Wrexham roan, now living at Bedford, discharged v it bout a pension was assisted, and after conSuderable cor- respondence, including enquiries in France, he had been admitt.ed to pension. In another case a man discharged in the early days of the irat as "not likely to become an efficient soldtie-r" and discharged vith-Dut a pension was found in very stfmite-ned cir- cumstances. Representations were made to Chelsea and a pension had now been awarded with arrears amounting to no less a sum than 9150. The report was adopted. The. Disablement Sub-Committee reported that two months ago the number of cases of men dis- charged frotm the Army or Navy in respect of whom notices had been received, by the local committee etItber through the labour exohane.s, to whom the earlier notifications were sent, or direct from the Record Offices, was 569. A large number of men had been discharged before the system of notifying the employment exchanges was adopted in May, IMS, and for the purposes of record a liet of the men discharged, prior to that date had been ob- tained Stom the military authorities. Many of the mem concerned had re-enlisted, and under the Re- view of Exceptions Act many more were being reo eaitod to the colours. At the present time the num- ber of men discharged as disabled to residences in Beobtg-hsMw was 603, and new notifications came to Tra-iy* eveiy day. Pe-riodsic&riy, men belonging to Class W of the Army Reserve were breaking down whilst aft work, and when satisfactory medical evi- dence could be obtatoed steps were taken to secure & transfer to Ols P or final discharge. Each man about to be discharged from the Army or Navy was written to immediately and the nearest visitor was uked to get in touch with Mm. A number of men were able to resume their former employment; ethers preferred to postpone any application to the local committee for an indefinite period terminated, treuaHy by som,eism,dden change in their circum- stances; but tihie majority welcomed, the helip of the local committee in settling questions of pay or pension and in securing for them continued treat- ment for their disabilities ot training for new occu- pations. It was encouraging to nouce that mem dis- charged months ago were beginning to realise the importance of undertaking training. Large numbers bad found Id glut emplovitrent, at munition works, and when the War is over the task of placing these men in positions su-ited to their disabilities would be a difficult one. Consequently every effort was made -to persuade men attracted by the high paid at munition works, and not specially skilled in nny branch of the work, to accept training for some suit, able trado or handicraft, likely to be of permanent benefit to them. An increasing number of discharged men were being interviewed on behalf of the disable- ment committee each week and, as a result of the > efforts that were being made in the hospitals to the importance of continued treatment and trototog for new work, discharged men, on the whole, were ready to accept treatment and under- go training, particularly if it could be provided neiar tbeiir own boaoifts. Unfortunately, the treatment reo quired in a certain olass of cases could not be, obtained lu the county. Out-patient treratment was available at tihe various military and auxiliary hos- pitals, but there was no military orthopaedic hos- pital in Denbighshire, amd men requiring treatment at sucib a canitM. lad to be sent to Liverpool or elsewhere. Out-patient treatment cards, issued 'to local committees from the hospitals or travelling medical bOdXdg, nOW distinguished between cases which required treatment at an orthopaedic centre, aiwl tffwse which could be dealt with at a general hospital, civil or military. It would be an excellent thing if steps could be taken to establish a military orthopaedic centre at one of the auxiliary military hosipdtals in the county which could be regularly visited by surgeons conversant with the methods of the famous Liverpool School of Military Orthopaedics. The hospital at which tmmediete provision might be made for o-rthopaedic cases was the Croesnewydd; AncslXtery Hospital, Wrexham where workshops for training might be pfaced if in Noritlh Wales a move- ment could be inaugurated, similar to that which tosptped the Cardiff dockers to give £,500 for tihe ereddion of curative workshops and gymnasium at the Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital, Whitchurch. Croewiewydd Hospital was a Class A Hospital undiei the first Western Gemeiail Hospital, Fazakerley, ? Mveipool, and had bean dealing with expeditionary men for the past, two years in addition to carry ing out X-Rav wort for Wrexham R.W.F. Barracks. Tbb hospital comtadrred 140 beds. Its, equipmemt in- cluded a first-class X-Ray instaliteitdon, and an (!1\;eC- tO-l diepartment; and provlsiicn was now being made for Swedish exercises, radiant heat, etc., and ww appliances were being supplied under the advioa of Captain Lloyd Roberts, who was in change of the X-Ray Department at Liverpool. Out-patient treat- ment +v* discharged soldiers was given at the hospital at present. It was thought that Cro,es. newydd might be utilised as an annexe to Alder Hey, Liverpool, amd poltslibly arrangements mdgbt be made for the institution to be regarded as a gtart- POlut In North Wales of the urgent work of pro- viding for the treatment and training of orthopae- dic cases A system of transfer might possibly be adopted whereby mfm vhO" homes are wl'thin the area of North Wales might be drafted from hos- pitalfl in other parts of the country to Wnsitoam U soon as they were Individually fit for transfer. Dortog the past momths sevwail dlecbarged soldiers bad been: senffc to the Wm. and John Jones, Con- Kriesceirt Home, Rhyl. Residence at this well- eqaipped instStution was free. The cajses aeooib bvm r the local committee received preference and the best I thanks of the committee were due to Mr. Oswell Bury and the trustees for the ready manner in which they had assisted the Committee in this branch of the work. Thanks were also due to the owner and I matron o.f the Rhoscolyn Home in Anglesey, where < men. from Denbighshire were still being received. Since the last meeting all the hospital visitors had been supplied with copies of an attTMtive booklet issued by the Minister oi Pensions wiW the object of demonstmting the vahM of & course of training to the disabled men. At mosc of the hospitals of the county, the men to be discharged went to Liver- pool ior their medical Loards and were vif4ted there, but it was to bj hoped that the visitors appoiBted for the auxiiary ho?pit?Is might be aM?. to pr,- pare the minds of the men likely to be discharged for the new life they must begin on leaving the service. If medical treatment and industrial re- education could proceed side by side the task of the Disablement Committee would be simplified con- sidembly. The most successful cemtres of re-educa- tiom in France were those where the disabled men remained under disiCipline. | A committee was appointed to wait upon the Deputy Director of Medical Services, Western Com- mand, and to urge the constitution of Croesnewydd •s Military Hospital, Wrexham, as an orthopaedic centre.

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