London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Greenwich 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
110
rehoused at Barnfield Gardens. In an effort to prevent them again
falling by the wayside, a subsidiary clinic was established there.
No charges of any kind are made at either of these clinics.
The result of the increased demand is reflected in the following figures for 1967 and 1968:—
| 1967 | 1968 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of patients attending | 2,812 | 3,209 |
| Local authority and hospital referrals | 210 | 247 |
| Family doctor referrals | 206 | 264 |
| Cytology smears | 321 | 419 |
| Pre-marital advice | 137 | 221 |
The figures for 1968 include of course only 9 months of working
under the new arrangements but indicate that there is an upward
trend.
The Association are well aware of the need for economy in the
present financial climate and have thus striven for the most efficient
use of the resources available to them. They cannot, of course,
limit the demands upon their services but by careful "housekeeping"
feel they have succeeded for the time being in keeping the costs of
meeting those demands within the available funds.
But they cannot limit the rising costs either and these include
substantial increases in doctors' and nurses' fees agreed by the
National Whitley Council and paid as from 11th November, 1968.
These increases will be reflected in a whole year's working in 1969,
and it may well be necessary in due course to ask for more funds."
Abortion
Since the operation of the Abortion Act of 1967, i.e. from 27th
April to 31st December, 1968, there have been 22,256 abortions
notified throughout Eneland and Wales, 13,609 (61%) from N.H.S.
hospitals and 8,601 (38.9%) from "approved" places.
Some 1,233, equivalent to 5.5% of the country's total, were
notified in the S.E. Metropolitan Regional Hospital area and of
this total 217 or 17.7% were forwarded from "approved" places.
The proportion of single women included in this figure was 8%
and 2.8% were in respect of women under the age of 20 years.
Nulliparous women formed almost 3.1% of all abortions carried
out in the S.E. Metropolitan Regional Hospital area.
Of the S.E. total, an average of 15.5% of women were aborted
before the 9th week and 31% after thirteen weeks gestation period.
Dilatation was the usual method of termination being responsible
for 45% of all cases treated, abdominal hysterectomy and vacuum
aspiration forming 32% and 17% respectively of the total.