London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wandsworth 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth, Metropolitan Borough]
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of service given. In the past, interviews in the office have not
been recorded but they are now such an essential part of the
health visitor's work that we are planning to maintain such records.
In this way we hope to be able to give a more complete picture of
the amount of service given to families in the Borough.
The help given by health visitors during the floods last autumn
is mentioned elsewhere in this report.
The number of first visits made during the year to children under five years of age was:—
| Children born in 1968 | 5,453 |
| Children born in 1967 | 4,573 |
| Children born in 1963/66 | 10,246 |
| Visits of all kinds paid by health visitors during the year totalled :— | |
| Effective visits | 54,020 |
| Unsuccessful visits | 11,537 |
Premature infants
infants, both at home and in hospital, are given below. The total adjusted births for the year was 5,703.
| Died under | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Live births | 1 month | Stillbirths | |
| 2 lb. 3 oz. or less | 19 | 14 | 7 |
| Over 2 lb. 3 oz. up to and including 3 lb. 4 oz. | 33 | 7 | 17 |
| Over 3 lb. 4 oz. up to and including 4 lb. 6 oz. | 88 | 7 | 15 |
| Over 4 lb. 6 oz. up to and including 4 lb. 15 oz. | 70 | 3 | 5 |
| Over 4 lb. 15 oz. up to and including 5 lb. 8 oz. | 216 | 3 | 4 |
| 426 | 34 | 48 |
Handicap and Observation Register
During the year the register of handicapped children and of
those under observation as at risk of developing a handicap has
been extended to include schoolchildren, and a special index
system was brought fully into operation. The new method of
recording aims at easy analysis of incidence of different handicaps