Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
Some of the notices were for assistance for more than one condition. The following is a summary of the conditions for which aid was summoned:—
(1) | (2) | |
---|---|---|
Number of calls for medical aid for conditions as indicated | Col. (1) expressed as a percentage of the 13,564 midwifery cases attended during the year by domiciliary midwives and midwives in small institutions | |
(i) Conditions of pregnancy | 1,533 | 11.30% |
(ii) Conditions during and immediately following labour | 2,853 | 21.03% |
(iii) Conditions during puerperium | 814 | 6.00% |
(iv) Conditions of the child | 1,628 | 12.00% |
Fees paid under the Midwives Acts to medical practitioners called in by mid-wives in emergency were as follow:—
1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
No. of claims | 6,354 | 5,368 | 4,216 | 3,932 |
Amount | £15,594 | £15,829 | £12,682 | £12,042 |
The continued reduction in the number of claims received during the year may
be attributed to the effect of the maternity medical services provided under the
National Health Service Act, 1946, and, to a small degree, to a slight decline in the
birth rate.
Maternity
medical
service
At the end of the year there were 501 (compared with 570 at the end of 1950)
general practitioner obstetricians on the list of the London Executive Council. The
clerk of that council has kindly provided the following details of claims received from
doctors during the year 1951 for maternity medical services. The figures quoted do
not represent the total number of cases attended during the year as there is no time
limit for the submission of claims for fees on maternity medical services and some
claims were therefore received too late for inclusion in these figures.
Service provided | Quarter | Claims from general practitioner obstetricians | Claims from genoral medical practitioners | Totals | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | |
March | 482 | 671 | 612 | 89 | 100 | 99 | 571 | 771 | 711 | |
June | 428 | 573 | 553 | 73 | 93 | 85 | 501 | 666 | 638 | |
September | 582 | 649 | 493 | 72 | 92 | 44 | 654 | 741 | 537 | |
December | 990 | 587 | 603 | 51 | 73 | 52 | 1,041 | 660 | 655 | |
2,482 | 2,480 | 2,261 | 285 | 358 | 280 | 2,767 | 2,838 | 2,541 | ||
Partial | March | 203 | 513 | 621 | 201 | 305 | 410 | 404 | 818 | 1,031 |
June | 500 | 670 | 622 | 243 | 322 | 400 | 743 | 992 | 1,022 | |
September | 700 | 756 | 550 | 259 | 366 | 320 | 959 | 1,122 | 870 | |
December | 745 | 406 | 782 | 448 | 227 | 500 | 1,193 | 633 | 1,282 | |
2,148 | 2,345 | 2,575 | 1,151 | 1,220 | 1,630 | 3,299 | 3,565 | 4,205 | ||
Emergency | March | 5 | 31 | 28 | 1 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 50 | 52 |
June | 14 | 17 | 35 | 2 | 22 | 19 | 6 | 39 | 54 | |
September | 24 | 20 | 37 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 16 | 26 | 59 | |
December | 45 | 17 | 28 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 50 | 27 | 59 | |
88 | 85 | 128 | 10 | 57 | 96 | 98 | 142 | 224 |