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16
There were no registrations during the year and the number of registered premises remains at sixteen.
There are no premises in Willesden which require to be licensed for the manufacture or storage of rag flock.
Unfortunately the Act does not cover the re-making of an article, and dirty materials can therefore be
used in upholstering second-hand articles if they do not belong to the occupier.
Two samples of filling material were taken during the year and they proved to be satisfactory.
PET ANIMALS ACT, 1951
The owners of pet shops must now obtain an annual licence costing 10/-. The shops are inspected
by both Public Health Inspectors and Shops Act Inspector; Public Health Inspectors inspect premises for
size, lighting, ventilation and cleanliness, and for the precautions taken for preventing spread of infectious
disease. During 1956, 20 pet shops were licensed.
STAFF MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS
53 staff medical examinations were carried out by the Medical Officer of Health and Deputy Medical
Officer of Health in 1956.
HEALTH SERVICES OF OTHER AUTHORITIES IN THE AREA
Hospitals
The hospital facilities provided by the North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, and the
maternity and child welfare and school health services provided by the Middlesex County Council, remain
substantially the same; they are described in the 1948 and 1953 reports.
Liaison with Hospitals
The exchange of medical officers between the Paediatric Out-Patients Department at the Central
Middlesex Hospital and the local health authority was continued.
This scheme has been working very satisfactorily and has brought the work of the two departments
more closely together.
Personal Health Services
The remainder of the report provides detailed information on the personal health services in the area
since the operation of the National Health Service Act, 1946.
CARE OF MOTHERS AND YOUNG CHILDREN
Care of the Expectant Mother
During 1956, 1,671 expectant mothers (62 per cent of the total) attended the local ante-natal clinics
staffed by assistant medical officers (Table 53).
Expectant mothers require adequate ante-natal care throughout pregnancy, and close co-operation
therefore exists between general practitioners, staffs of hospitals, assistant medical officers, midwives and
health visitors. Health visitors make the initial arrangements for hospital and domiciliary confinements at
the local clinics (Table 54). Mothers booked for confinement in Paddington Hospital or at home, have specimens
of blood taken by assistant medical officers for Wasserman reaction, blood grouping and Rhesus factor.
All expectant mothers are invited to attend the mass X -ray unit at Central Middlesex Hospital.
Health visitors conduct mothercraft classes (o ne afternoon a week at the main clinics) on the care of
the expectant mother, the birth and the child. They arrange carefully planned programmes of talks and
demonstrations, which are given by the assistant medical officers, health visitors and midwives. Mothers are
encouraged to ask questions, and interesting discussions follow over a cup of tea (Table 55).
The physiotherapist conducts ante-natal relaxation classes on two afternoons a week in the orthopaedic
department at Stonebridge Health Clinic and a health visitor conducts similar classes at Kilburn Health
Clinic on one afternoon (Table 56).
The decline in attendance at ante-natal clinics, etc., is as a result of some hospitals arranging for
expectant mothers to have their ante-natal care, mothercraft and relaxation exercises at the hospital. Health
visitors and midwives encourage mothers to have post-natal examination six weeks after confinement, either
at the hospital, at the clinic, or by general practitioners. Health visitors make follow-up visits where mothers
fail to keep appointments at the hospital or clinics.
Child Welfare Clinics
Child welfare sessions are held on five afternoons a week in the three main clinics, and on two
afternoons a week in the four church hall clinics (Table 57).
Assistant medical officers and health visitors give advice on the feeding, hygiene and general management
of infants and young children. The doctors immunise children under one year against diphtheria and
whooping cough.
Greeting cards are sent to children on their first and second birthdays, inviting their mothers to bring
them to the clinic for routine yearly examinations and a tuberculin patch test.