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11
Health and Welfare Department,
Municipal Offices,
Royal Hill, S.E.10.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
London Borough of Greenwich.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present this record of the health, social and
environmental circumstances of the London Borough of Greenwich
for 1966.
Last year the report chronicled at some length the difficulties of
establishing a department which would provide a continuity of
service. Moreover, it was important that the interim methods
adopted at that time and the disposition of staff and resources
should be such that reorganisation and redeployment to meet our
future needs would be possible without serious disruption. Apart
from the substantial increase in the local social services provision,
which will be outlined in these prefatory remarks and described in
more detail in the main report, the Department is now in the process
of being organised on more rational lines and in accordance with
sound principles. All the administration has been centralised.
Duplication of effort has been minimised and all the professional
branches have been allocated supporting administrative and clerical
help in their everyday work.
Next year will see the completion of this task with the integration
of all community care being provided by the Department, and this
action will unify the services for the physically handicapped, the
mentally ill and handicapped, the elderly and families found to be
socially inadequate and who require help. This is a bold concept and
one which, as far as I am aware, as yet has no parallel in the country.
Success in this planning for the future depends upon the stability of
a well organised health and welfare department, which in turn
relies entirely upon competent and trained professional and administrative
staff.
Throughout the country, community health and welfare services
at the moment suffer from organisational deficiencies, inconsistencies
and contradictions which are in part the product of historical
accidents, past neglect and unawareness. It is as well to remind
ourselves that the environmental health services are barely 100 years
old and it is only since 1948 that any attempt has been made to