London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Holborn 1923

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health, for the year 1923

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75
Nursing Arrangements.
Nursing arrangements have been made with the Metropolitan Nursing
Association, No. 23 Dloomsbury Square, for the nursing, when required, of
necessitous cases of measles, whooping cough, ophthalmia neonatorum, epidemic
diarrhoea, pneumonia, and encephalitis lethargica.

Their services were used as follows:—

Whooping Cough1 Case24 Visits.
Measles4 Cases38 „
Ophthalmia Neonatorum3 „82 ,,
Pneumonia4 „116 „
Influenza6 „170 „
Total18 Cases430 Visits.

Pensions for Mothers and Widows.
This subject has come to the fore again in this Country of late; it might be
thought desirable that local authorities should begin to consider how best the work
when it is initiated could be administered. It is difficult to avoid thinking that
the administration would be best carried out by local Maternity and Child Welfare
Committees.
Sympathetic, efficient and experienced administration is essential for
obtaining the maximum result, and this can only be effected if the administration
is carried out by those who have an intimate knowledge of the home
conditions of mothers and widows and have been brought into touch with them in
a manner which naturally leads to mutual sympathy and confidence.
The organisation necessary for such efficient administration already exists in
the form of the Maternity and Child Welfare Committees of Local Authorities and
the natural relationship of the new work for mothers and widows to that which
they are already carrying out postulates that the administration of the new work
should be added to their present duties.
Moreover, if the State pays Mother's Pensions it would have a right to see
that the mothering were good. This could readily be done by Health Visitors
without prying or inquisitorial methods, in the course of their ordinary duties. In
the main also it would be more economical for the work to be carried out by
existing organisations. There is everything to be said in favour of local as
opposed to central administration in view of local authorities' more intimate
knowledge of local and personal conditions and greater facilities for supervision.
Health Week and Baby Week.
Following the precedents of 1921 and 1922 the celebration of these weeks
was. in the main, combined and observed from the 7th to the 13th of October, 1923.
The efforts made during the week were as follows: —
(1) Elementary schools were invited to co-operate as in previous years.
Twenty school departments out of 24 suitable took part, and essays were afterwards
written by a large number of children. The subjects of the essays were
"Danger from Flies " and " Self Help in Health." A leaflet written on flies
in relation to public health had been previously written by me and distributed to
the school children in time for them to assist in the destruction of flies during
the winter months.