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

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Kensington 1923

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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The Council's Women Health Officers receive all notifications of birth, and these are
transferred to History Cards. They pay all "first visits" to infants in order to ascertain certain
information required by the Council in respect of births. If the mother of the child is in
regular attendance at an Infant Welfare Centre, the Health Officer transfers the History Card
to the Welfare Sister who pays the subsequent home visits. Apart from " first visits," the
Council's Health Officer confines her attention to cases not in attendance at Welfare Centres or to
difficult cases transferred back to her by the Welfare Sister. Thus a considerable reduction in the
number of visits paid to homes has been secured, whilst at the same time the efficiency of the
work has been increased. Only one set of records need be kept at each Centre instead of two sets
formerly in existence, and consequently there is less time spent on clerical work than hitherto.
Dental Treatment.—The importance of good teeth both to the mother and her child cannot be
over-estimated, and there is no doubt that the national physique and happiness are dependent to a
considerable extent on efficient dental treatment at reasonable charges. Therefore it is very satisfactory
to observe that there has been a considerable increase during the past year in the amount of
work performed by the Dental Clinics.
All the Infant Welfare Centres provided dental treatment (including the supply of
dentures) for expectant and nursing mothers who were unable to pay the fees usually charged
by private dentists.
Each Welfare Centre endeavoured to make the scheme of dental treatment practically selfsupporting
by charging such fees as the mothers could pay and by obtaining the dentures at a very
low rate.
Although the dentures were generally not more than £4 to £5 for a complete set, they were
very well made and gave considerable satisfaction.

table showing the amount of dental treatment p rformed at the various centres in 1923.

CentreNo. of patients.No. of attendances.Extractions.FillingsDenturesOther Treatments.
Archer Street83237126661526
Bramley Road48146186301412
*Campden Hill2351
Earl's Court1474373991774352
Golborne267124†135
Lancaster Road4811214336522
Raymede337735346†162514

-mere is no Dental Clinic on tne premises at tnis centre, ana cases are sent to a private dentist. During
the year a change was made in the dentist employed and it has not been possible to obtain a complete record of the
work done.
†These figures represent the number of times gas was administered and not the number of teeth extracted.
Details Concerning Individual Centres.
Archer Street Infant Welfare Centre.
This Centre serves the southern part of the Pembridge Ward. Infant consultations are held
by the Medical Officer on two afternoons in each week and ante-natal and dental clinics are each
held twice monthly. In addition to these activities a Sewing Class is held weekly and there are
Boot, Clothing, Blanket, Maternity and Denture Clubs connected with the institution.
The total attendances of mothers during the year 1923 were 708, and those of children were
3,721.
Bramley Road Infant Welfare Centre.
This Centre serves the Norland Ward and part of the St. Charles Ward, and has within its
area one of the poorest districts in the Borough. It is the oldest of the Kensington Centres, having
been established as far back as 1907. In fact it is one of the pioneer centres in the Country. In
1919, the work of this Centre had grown to such an extent that it was found necessary to open a
Branch at the premises of the Kensington District Nursing Association in Kenley Street. Three
infant consultation sessions are held weekly at Bramley Road and one at the Kenley Street Branch.
Ante-natal clinics are held fortnightly. Arrangements are made for dental work to be carried out
at the Minor Ailment Centre which is conducted on the Nursing Association's premises in Kenley
Street. Knitting and Sewing Classes are held weekly, also a Maternity Club and Dental Savings
Bank.
The total attendances of mothers during the year were 1,905, and of children 7,230.