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51
visitor's work. Health visiting however includes the whole family
and frequent requests are received from general practitioners and
hospitals for visits to patients discharged from hospital or to assess
the needs of an elderly person. Many of these people may need
other community services and the health visitor works closely with
all Borough and voluntary services.

Domiciliary Midwifery Service
The number of women having home confinements has continued
to decline. All expectant mothers needing hospital confinement
on medical or social grounds can be accommodated and
even those preferring hospital confinement can now be booked by
one of the local maternity units.
A high standard of domiciliary midwifery has been maintained
and all patients are booked with a doctor. The emergency call
service operated in conjunction with the London Boroughs of
Lambeth and Southwark has worked very well throughout the
year, the three boroughs sharing a rota so that a supervisor of
midwives is always available in an emergency. One midwife
resigned in June, 1966 and has not been replaced as the volume of
work did not justify an appointment being made. All the midwives
are now undertaking the nursing care of a proportion of
the mothers booked under the early discharge scheme which is
referred to later in this report.

Maternity Beds
The shortage of maternity beds in parts of the London area and
their uneven distribution has been a source of anxiety for many
years and medical officers and general practitioners have continued
to exercise great care in the selection of cases for hospital
confinement.