London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington and Chelsea 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington & Chelsea Borough]
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This diverse range of activities calls for the use of all the skills and knowledge of the
nursing staff, whether they be health visitors, district nurses, midwives, school nurses, or
clinic nurses.
Health Visiting
Throughout the year a high level of staffing has been maintained and it is gratifying
to note that the number of visits made has increased by over 20% compared with 1970. The
work of the health visiting staff has continued to develop and as the following figures show
the general increase in visiting has been spread throughout all age groups. The wide range of
health education activities has continued under the guidance of an assistant nursing officer
and the programmes planned and teaching undertaken has shown even further expansion.
The syllabus of training for health visitors contains detailed instruction in teaching methods
and practice and all staff are prepared to meet the demands of any teaching situation.
Details of these activities appear later in this report (Section 7).
The following table records details of visits by Health Visitors during the year:—
| First visits to: | 1971 | 1970 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children born 1971 | 2,372 | 2,397 | |
| Children born 1970 | 2,304 | 1,900 | |
| Children born 1966/69 | 3,895 | 3,181 | |
| Persons aged 65 or over | 547 | 353 | |
| Mentally disordered persons | 68 | 84 | |
| Persons discharged from hospitals (excluding mental) | 64 | 88 | |
| Tuberculous households | 126 | 177 | |
| Infectious households | 71 | 56 | |
| Ante-natal cases | 713 | 1,146 | |
| School-children | 385 | ||
| Other adults under 65 | 1,138 | ||
| All other cases | 444 | ||
| Total cases visited | 12,126 | 9,382 | |
| Total effective visits and revisits | 33,142 | 25,935 | |
| Unsuccessful visits | 9,316 | 8,188 | |
Survey into the Work of Health Visitors in London
During 1969 the Intelligence Unit of the Greater London Council analysed a million
minutes of health visitors' working time. A one in five sample of staff in this borough took
part. This survey demonstrated conclusively many of the problems of which the senior
nursing staff have been aware in providing a continuing health visiting service. The
percentage of staff selected for the survey in Greater London with less than 6 years
experience was 51% but the comparable figure for those selected for this borough was 87%.
The Intelligence Unit provided a breakdown of the figures for this borough and a reflection
on the concentration of young people was shown by 4.3% of time spent on unsupported
mothers in comparison with 2.4% in Greater London, and with young adults this was 3.5%
as against 1.9%. Topics covered during visits showed, as would be expected, a high
proportion of time spent on advice on child management (33.9%) though other health
topics (15.7%) and social services (20.5%) took a high proportion of the working day.
Health Visitor Students
Eight students were sponsored at four different colleges for training by this
authority, and all were successful in their final examinations. Training facilities for practical
work with a fieldwork instructor were provided for seven students from the Polytechnic of
North London, and Chiswick Polytechnic.