View report page

1
THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA
Telephone: 01-937 5464 Health Department,
25A, Kensington Square,
London. W. 8.
October, 1971.
To: The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am privileged to submit the Report on the Public Health and
Welfare Services in Kensington and Chelsea for 1970, although I was
not responsible for any of the services in the Borough during the year
under report, since my appointment was not effective until March 1971.
As Dr. J.H. Weir mentioned in the introduction to his Report
for 1969. that was the last complete year for which he was responsible
as Director of Health and Social Services and Medical Officer of Health.
He retired on 25th October, 1970 and he was therefore responsible for
the work of his department throughout the greater part of the year.
Following his retirement, his Deputy, Dr. P.J.C. Walker, became Acting
Medical Officer of Healths.
Dr. Weir and then Dr. Walker, were responsible for the whole
range of Health, Welfare and Children's Services. The Annual Report
in respect of the Public Health of the borough is required for the
Departments of Health and Social Security and of Education and Science
(so far as it relates to the School Health Service) and it was the
practice to include the related welfare services provided by the Council.
There is a statutory duty to make a return annually to the Home Office
in respect of the Children's Service. For this reason, although the
Director had this responsibility for the three services, it was not his
practice to include the Children's Service in his Annual Report and it
is proposed to follow this precedent for the year 1970. An additional
reason for this is that, as a result of the Local Authority Social
Services Act, 1970, a Social Services Committee was set up, holding its
first meeting towards the end of the year under report. A Social
Services Department under the direction of the Director of Social
Services began to function from the beginning of 1971p and became
responsible for the Children's and Welfare Services. Other services
provided under the National Health Service Act, 1946, relating to the
day care of children; their care and after-care; the social care of
mothers and young children; the home help service and the mental health
service will all be taken over from 1st April, 1971.
In opening this introduction I used the word 'privileged' advisedly,
for two reasons. As Dr. Weir's deputy over a period of seven years I
benefited greatly firstly from his almost limitless experience of public
health and local government matters which crystallised in the advice he
gave me and secondly I knew in advance the effectiveness of the
organisation which he had so carefully built up.
October 25th, 1970 was a sad day for this Department, for the
Borough and for public health as a whole. In fact, it was in many ways
the end of an era. Dr. J.H. Weir had been the Medical Officer of Health
for the original two constituent Boroughs, the Royal Borough of Kensington
and the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea, since February, 1950 and he
continued as Medical Officer of Health from April 1st, 1965, for the new